TAMPA - Three people dead, all patients of a local doctor. What's going on inside a Tampa clinic that has state and federal investigators so concerned?

Investigator Robin Guess has discovered a doctor with a history of problems, even a criminal record, still practicing. Now, some of his patients have died and family members want to know why he wasn't stopped.

The state of Florida says Lehel Kadosa is a dangerous doctor. His practice, the American Spine and Pain Rehabilitation Institute, has been under investigation for months, but it's a fact the Florida Department of Health and its Board of Medicine have kept secret.

Dan and Madaline Rodda lost their son Kelly back in May. They blame Dr. Kadosa for the heart-stopping overdose of methadone that killed the 28-year-old.

"It is just mind-boggling that he is still practicing," Dan Rodda observed.

"You cannot imagine the pain," Madaline added.

Dr. Kadosa prescribed thousands of doses of methadone, OxyContin, and hydrocodone, along with an array of other drugs, for Kelly.

Kelly was an addict, and in a haunting conversation before his death, he told his father where he got his fix. But there was nothing Dan could do to save his son, who was also the father of a 5-year-old daughter.

Kelly Rodda died from an overdose of methadone. His parents blame Dr. Kadosa.

"He was on a track to self-destruction," Dan continued. "To prescribe the Percocet, Somas -- which are very strong muscle relaxers -- and Zanex simultaneously, along with 840 methadone tablets."

Kelly's parents say he had no medical condition that would give Dr. Kadosa any reason to prescribe so many medications, in such large quantities, over such a short period of time.

"I just feel like this doctor didn't care about Kelly's life. Because if he did, he would have said, 'Kelly, you're on way too much. I can't give you all those,' "Madeline said.

The medical examiner's report blamed the methadone and chronic drug abuse for Kelly's death.

It was not the first death linked to Dr. Kadosa's practice. Kadosa prescribed methadone to two other patients who died just weeks before Kelly. The Hillsborough County medical examiner ruled the cause of death was intoxication by methadone.

Law enforcement eventually did catch up with Dr. Kadosa. Last month, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Florida attorney general raided his office.

"Our investigation revealed that we believe that drugs were being prescribed without the appropriate work-up, without the appropriate exam -- the kind of thing, in terms of a quality of care, that you would expect of a responsible physician," Attorney General Charlie Crist stated.

Dr. Kadosa declines to discuss the story with Robin Guess.

Kadosa was arrested and charged with Medicaid and prescription fraud, but it was not the doctor's first time behind bars. Robin Guess found he has a lengthy criminal record.

Still, somehow Kadosa managed to keep his medical license.

"It amazes me that, what I've learned about this doctor, that he's still practicing," Dan Rodda said. "It is unbelievable."

Just days after his arrest on fraud charges, Dr. Kadosa was back at his clinic. An Action News undercover reporter went in, and after a brief exam, easily got prescriptions for Darvocet and Soma.

Dr. Sunil Panchal, a highly trained, board-certified pain specialist and anesthesiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center, reviewed the undercover tape and the evidence Robin discovered. He found Dr. Kadosa's credentials lacking.

"He has not completed a full residency here and has not completed a pain specialty training program either. So this physician may be over his head," Dr. Panchal said.

Kadosa lost his license in New York more than 10 years ago. But despite his criminal record and repeated reprimands dating back to 1987, Florida's Department of Health allowed Kadosa to keep practicing.

That is, until last Thursday.

Just days before this story aired, and seven long months after Kelly's death and the deaths of two other patients, Florida's Department of Health finally suspended Dr. Kadosa's license.

PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF

This is not the first time Action News has exposed mistakes by a local doctor. Earlier this year, Robin Guess uncovered medical malpractice inside the office of Sarasota cosmetic surgeon Kurt Dangl. Dangl did not use an anesthesiologist when he operated on 38-year-old Julie Rubenzer, and she died three months after the surgery. Our reports led to the restriction of Dr. Dangl's license, and he could lose his license entirely at a hearing in January. State takes action against plastic surgeon (4/07/04)

In a scathing 56-page report, the state said Kadosa posed a serious and immediate danger to the public and accused him of inappropriately prescribing addictive and dangerous drugs.

When asked about the allegations, Kadosa insisted the government was out to get him.

"They are lies, all of them are lies," he told Robin Guess. "But I cannot talk to you now."

For now, Kadosa's license is suspended and it could be permanently revoked, but it does little to ease the pain for the Rodda family. The families of the patients who died would like to see Dr. Kadosa charged with negligent homicide, but the Attorney General's Office said it cannot prove that case.

However, longtime prosecutor and defense attorney John Fitzgibbons says there is plenty of legal ammunition to go after Kadosa for Kelly's death.

"I disagree with the Attorney General's Office. I think there are several very distinct criminal charges that could be brought under these circumstances. Number one, there is the felony-murder rule, that if you are committing a felony -- in this instance, if drugs are being prescribed by fraudulent means -- and someone dies, then you can be charged," he explained. "There's a manslaughter charge that deals with culpable negligence: when you act so recklessly or with such wantonness that you show a total disregard for human life, such risky behavior, then that could support a manslaughter charge."

Robin Guess will continue to follow developments in this case. If you've had a problem with Dr. Kadosa, email the Action News Investigators at investigates@ABCactionnews.com.

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