DarrinS
08-19-2009, 01:40 PM
This time, at Barney Franks' town hall meeting.
http://www.bucksright.com/another-phony-doctor-woman-at-frank-meeting-not-in-database-4291
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L6pDyjqqsvY/SowQ6vIigeI/AAAAAAAAdXg/nAFFTdIbNA8/s400/sheila+leavitt.jpg
I’m having trouble finding evidence that an ObamaCare supporter who spoke at Barney Frank’s town hall meeting last night, identified by the Associated Press and other media outlets as a Newton, MA “physician,” actually is a medical doctor.
Others at Tuesday’s meeting were more supportive of reform.
Dr. Sheila Leavitt, a physician from Newton, said she hoped for changes that would support primary care physicians who aren’t paid as much as specialists. She said some of the rowdy critics at Tuesday’s meeting appeared to be using the same “talking points” as those who showed up at similar meetings around the country.
The only references to Sheila Leavitt as a medical doctor I can find on Google (besides references to last night’s town hall) are self-references; where she identifies herself that way. I could find no listing for a medical office belonging to Sheila Leavitt. Physicians generally have offices where they practice medicine.
As far as I can tell, she is not listed as a licensed Physician at the Massachusetts State Medical Board web site. Several “Leavitt”s are doctors in Massachusetts, but none are named “Sheila.” Just for kicks I tried the Associated Press’ original misspelling of the name, “Levitt,” and also found no “Sheila” as a licensed doctor.
Note the update below, where a comment poster claiming to be Leavitt’s son claims she is a former physician.
Other references to Leavitt mention her full name and home town, but do not indicate that she is a medical doctor. For example, I do find several references to a far-left agitator named Sheila Leavitt of Newton MA who turned a “grease car” into a rolling Bush protest with signs attacking his daughters, raises chickens, and advanced the weird conspiracy theory that the 2004 election was rigged in favor of George W. Bush.
Earlier, Patterico’s Pontifications found that Roxana Mayer, another ObamaCare supporter who identified herself as a doctor at a town hall meeting, was really a graduate student.
Is the Associated Press in such financial peril that they cannot afford to have someone do the 10 minutes of research I did this morning to verify the claims published in their articles? Or are they so desperate to publish anything that can prop up the quickly flagging ObamaCare boondoggle, like words of support from a doctor, that they just don’t care whether they get their facts right?
UPDATE: A Free Republic poster searched the AMA’s site for both member and non-member physicians and found no listing in Massachusetts for a doctor named Sheila Leavitt.
UPDATE 2: Note this comment from a poster claiming to be Leavitt’s son. I cannot verify whether he is or is not, but his IP address indicates that he is located in MA.
In response to his comment, I didn’t question the “his mother’s legitimacy.” I questioned the legitimacy of the Associated Press’ reporting. Whether or not she was ever a doctor, the AP wanted to give the impression that she is a current medical doctor and health care professional rather than a home schooling, grease-car driving, Bush-protesting, chicken raising stay-at-home-mom in order to give her opinion a sense of authority that the “commoners” in the audience did not have.
Also note that it is I who removed the comment with the personal contact information, and that I will continue to do so because that is not the point of this.
A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTING: A comment writer below named “TheSon” says he is Sheila Leavitt’s son. I am going based on the assumption that he is. He has commented in defense of his mother, which any son here would also do – right or wrong. As I have stated several times, Sheila Leavitt and her profession are not the root issue here. People are free to say whatever they want to say about themselves or the issues in order to further their agenda. The media taking her at her word without doing any research and using her as the voice of a physician and health care expert to give her opinion more heft is the point. Any comments attacking her personally, and especially attacking her alleged minor son (who has represented himself quite well here in my opinion) will be deleted. Attack her beliefs and public actions all you want and refute the alleged son’s points all you want. Have at it.
http://www.bucksright.com/another-phony-doctor-woman-at-frank-meeting-not-in-database-4291
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L6pDyjqqsvY/SowQ6vIigeI/AAAAAAAAdXg/nAFFTdIbNA8/s400/sheila+leavitt.jpg
I’m having trouble finding evidence that an ObamaCare supporter who spoke at Barney Frank’s town hall meeting last night, identified by the Associated Press and other media outlets as a Newton, MA “physician,” actually is a medical doctor.
Others at Tuesday’s meeting were more supportive of reform.
Dr. Sheila Leavitt, a physician from Newton, said she hoped for changes that would support primary care physicians who aren’t paid as much as specialists. She said some of the rowdy critics at Tuesday’s meeting appeared to be using the same “talking points” as those who showed up at similar meetings around the country.
The only references to Sheila Leavitt as a medical doctor I can find on Google (besides references to last night’s town hall) are self-references; where she identifies herself that way. I could find no listing for a medical office belonging to Sheila Leavitt. Physicians generally have offices where they practice medicine.
As far as I can tell, she is not listed as a licensed Physician at the Massachusetts State Medical Board web site. Several “Leavitt”s are doctors in Massachusetts, but none are named “Sheila.” Just for kicks I tried the Associated Press’ original misspelling of the name, “Levitt,” and also found no “Sheila” as a licensed doctor.
Note the update below, where a comment poster claiming to be Leavitt’s son claims she is a former physician.
Other references to Leavitt mention her full name and home town, but do not indicate that she is a medical doctor. For example, I do find several references to a far-left agitator named Sheila Leavitt of Newton MA who turned a “grease car” into a rolling Bush protest with signs attacking his daughters, raises chickens, and advanced the weird conspiracy theory that the 2004 election was rigged in favor of George W. Bush.
Earlier, Patterico’s Pontifications found that Roxana Mayer, another ObamaCare supporter who identified herself as a doctor at a town hall meeting, was really a graduate student.
Is the Associated Press in such financial peril that they cannot afford to have someone do the 10 minutes of research I did this morning to verify the claims published in their articles? Or are they so desperate to publish anything that can prop up the quickly flagging ObamaCare boondoggle, like words of support from a doctor, that they just don’t care whether they get their facts right?
UPDATE: A Free Republic poster searched the AMA’s site for both member and non-member physicians and found no listing in Massachusetts for a doctor named Sheila Leavitt.
UPDATE 2: Note this comment from a poster claiming to be Leavitt’s son. I cannot verify whether he is or is not, but his IP address indicates that he is located in MA.
In response to his comment, I didn’t question the “his mother’s legitimacy.” I questioned the legitimacy of the Associated Press’ reporting. Whether or not she was ever a doctor, the AP wanted to give the impression that she is a current medical doctor and health care professional rather than a home schooling, grease-car driving, Bush-protesting, chicken raising stay-at-home-mom in order to give her opinion a sense of authority that the “commoners” in the audience did not have.
Also note that it is I who removed the comment with the personal contact information, and that I will continue to do so because that is not the point of this.
A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTING: A comment writer below named “TheSon” says he is Sheila Leavitt’s son. I am going based on the assumption that he is. He has commented in defense of his mother, which any son here would also do – right or wrong. As I have stated several times, Sheila Leavitt and her profession are not the root issue here. People are free to say whatever they want to say about themselves or the issues in order to further their agenda. The media taking her at her word without doing any research and using her as the voice of a physician and health care expert to give her opinion more heft is the point. Any comments attacking her personally, and especially attacking her alleged minor son (who has represented himself quite well here in my opinion) will be deleted. Attack her beliefs and public actions all you want and refute the alleged son’s points all you want. Have at it.