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Blind Eye: How the Medical Establishment Let a Doctor Get Away with Murder
From the moment he entered medical school in the late 1970s, people around Michael Swango thought he was a little odd. But even though he expounded upon his obsessions with violent death and serial killings to anybody within earshot, almost nobody connected him to the string of deaths among patients under his care. When an investigation finally took place at the Ohio State medical center, hospital administrators sympathized with Swango--against the direct testimony of patients and nurses--and seemed more concerned with how revelations of a murderous doctor might affect their public image than with the safety of their clients. And, remarkably, even after being released from prison in Illinois, where he had been convicted of (nonfatally) poisoning several of his coworkers, Swango was able to obtain positions at hospitals in South Dakota and New York. When American authorities finally started to pursue his case, he fled the country and began plying his trade in Zimbabwe. In June 1998, after being captured during an attempt to reenter the United States, he was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison--on fraud charges related to his employment in New York.
The truly frightening aspect of Blind Eye is not the relentless chain of murders, but the ease with which Swango was able to repeatedly slip through the cracks in the medical system, simply by lying about the nature of his felony conviction. James B. Stewart methodically traces every step of Swango's career, laying out a straightforward narrative with all the suspense of a well-crafted thriller. Although attempts to "explain" Swango's behavior through psychopathology and a historical rise in the incidences of serial killing derail the ending somewhat, Blind Eye is still a must-read for true crime buffs--or anyone who enjoys good journalism. --Ron Hogan
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First published January 1, 1999
About the author
James B. Stewart
40 books335 followersJames Bennett Stewart is an American lawyer, journalist, and author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 289 reviews
June 5, 2010
I went to college with the subject of this book, Michael Swango at Quincy University. When I knew him he seemed a normal person who worked long hours paying his way through college, and medical school.
This book highlights why the medical profession is not good at policing itself for problem doctors.
This book highlights why the medical profession is not good at policing itself for problem doctors.
January 6, 2021
This is a true crime story about a demented doctor who kills people on his hospital rounds by injecting them with poison. If you have a hospital appointment coming up you shouldn’t read this book! And he also put poison in his co-workers soft drinks and coffee. They didn’t die, but got quite sick for a week or so – and that’s how he was caught the first time.
There are two themes pursued by the author. One is our main culprit, Michael Swango. He was a real piece of work. He had a number of girlfriends and
After reading a number of true crime stories over the years its remarkable how adept and convincing these murderers are at lying . Eventually Swango was wanted for fraud in fabricating his medical records. After exhausting his possibilities in the U.S. he went to Zimbabwe in Africa where he also had to leave because of the mounting deaths in the hospitals and the suspicions that it was Swango causing these. When he returned to the U.S., he was arrested on fraud charges and incarcerated. During this period the F.B.I. ramped up its efforts and he actually pleaded guilty to the deaths he had caused in the U.S. hospitals. As far as I can tell he is still in jail and hopefully will stay there. He is a psychopath beyond rehabilitation.
The other theme brought up by the author is that the medical profession protects its own. There were always misgivings about Swango in the various hospitals that he worked in (the states of Illinois, Ohio, South Dakota, and finally New York in Long Island). The doctors would not listen and take seriously the comments of the nurses and patients who saw him giving injections or adding doses to the IV lines – because, after all, they were not doctors. So what did they do – they relieved him of his duties and Swango was then free to apply for medical positions in other states.
The hospitals where he worked didn’t want a police investigation because of the bad status this would give them and the foundations supporting them. Also, hospitals and doctors are afraid of being sued for malpractice. So the tragic incidents that Swango made (either patients dying or becoming suddenly ill) were hushed up and hidden away as much as possible to avoid any public investigations. This would avoid financial complications.
It was the local press that caught onto the story (as in did you know that this doctor has a criminal record?)– and slowly Swango's name started to expand across the country.
There is now apparently a national database of doctor evaluations, but apparently most hospitals don’t make much use of it (this book was published in 1999). This national database would have alerted the doctors hiring Swango in South Dakota and New York that he had served time for the poisoning of co-workers, quite a significant crime for anyone, more so for a doctor.
While it is true that we don’t expect doctors to kill – there are some who are incompetent and receive bad evaluations – Swango was also of this category never fitting in well with the team. The database would be helpful for filtering poor doctors.
This book was certainly interesting and gripped me. There are a lot of details on the life of Swango. I would have liked to have known somewhat more as to why he pleaded guilty to murder, possibly because at that stage he knew that there was no way out – his “career” as a doctor was finished. The author was never able to interview Swango – and I suppose that is no surprise.
I found this in Wikipedia
There are two themes pursued by the author. One is our main culprit, Michael Swango. He was a real piece of work. He had a number of girlfriends and
After reading a number of true crime stories over the years its remarkable how adept and convincing these murderers are at lying . Eventually Swango was wanted for fraud in fabricating his medical records. After exhausting his possibilities in the U.S. he went to Zimbabwe in Africa where he also had to leave because of the mounting deaths in the hospitals and the suspicions that it was Swango causing these. When he returned to the U.S., he was arrested on fraud charges and incarcerated. During this period the F.B.I. ramped up its efforts and he actually pleaded guilty to the deaths he had caused in the U.S. hospitals. As far as I can tell he is still in jail and hopefully will stay there. He is a psychopath beyond rehabilitation.
The other theme brought up by the author is that the medical profession protects its own. There were always misgivings about Swango in the various hospitals that he worked in (the states of Illinois, Ohio, South Dakota, and finally New York in Long Island). The doctors would not listen and take seriously the comments of the nurses and patients who saw him giving injections or adding doses to the IV lines – because, after all, they were not doctors. So what did they do – they relieved him of his duties and Swango was then free to apply for medical positions in other states.
The hospitals where he worked didn’t want a police investigation because of the bad status this would give them and the foundations supporting them. Also, hospitals and doctors are afraid of being sued for malpractice. So the tragic incidents that Swango made (either patients dying or becoming suddenly ill) were hushed up and hidden away as much as possible to avoid any public investigations. This would avoid financial complications.
It was the local press that caught onto the story (as in did you know that this doctor has a criminal record?)– and slowly Swango's name started to expand across the country.
There is now apparently a national database of doctor evaluations, but apparently most hospitals don’t make much use of it (this book was published in 1999). This national database would have alerted the doctors hiring Swango in South Dakota and New York that he had served time for the poisoning of co-workers, quite a significant crime for anyone, more so for a doctor.
While it is true that we don’t expect doctors to kill – there are some who are incompetent and receive bad evaluations – Swango was also of this category never fitting in well with the team. The database would be helpful for filtering poor doctors.
This book was certainly interesting and gripped me. There are a lot of details on the life of Swango. I would have liked to have known somewhat more as to why he pleaded guilty to murder, possibly because at that stage he knew that there was no way out – his “career” as a doctor was finished. The author was never able to interview Swango – and I suppose that is no surprise.
I found this in Wikipedia
February 22, 2019
Alhough it gets tedious at times, James B. Stewart's BLIND EYE (1999) is a better-than-average account of one of the worst killer psychopaths: Dr. Michael Swango of Quincy, Illinois, who most likely poisoned three dozen patients or more (the FBI believes it could be as many as five dozen), and wounded quite a few more.
Here's the paragraph with some spoilers: on the surface Swango was an affable, kindly man, but he grew up in a rough household and apparently took out his frustrations on many of his patients. The old cynical statement that "Doctors bury their mistakes" doesn't really apply here, because Swango was rarely blamed for these deaths; instead, he became adept at attacking on the sly, then changing jobs (and at one point, his name), then hopscotching across the Central and Eastern U.S. and even going overseas. In order to hide years of patchwork job service and even some imprisonment, the youthful-looking Swango would accomplish feats like convincing people he was in hid mid-twenties when he was, in fact, crowding forty. Most people couldn't believe he had done what it seemed he had done -- leaving Swango free to move on. And files and computer-based systems designed to catch people like Swango somehow came up deficient time after time.
I get the distinct feeling that Swango's 2000 life imprisonment (see https://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-in-... ) finally came about because people had read this detailed 1999 book and finally could connect the heretofore-missing dots. BLIND EYE is a good solid book to read, and while I feel its 300 page length is justified, some more photographs would have been nice -- and at times a higher sense of drama would have helped its prose, I believe.
Here's the paragraph with some spoilers: on the surface Swango was an affable, kindly man, but he grew up in a rough household and apparently took out his frustrations on many of his patients. The old cynical statement that "Doctors bury their mistakes" doesn't really apply here, because Swango was rarely blamed for these deaths; instead, he became adept at attacking on the sly, then changing jobs (and at one point, his name), then hopscotching across the Central and Eastern U.S. and even going overseas. In order to hide years of patchwork job service and even some imprisonment, the youthful-looking Swango would accomplish feats like convincing people he was in hid mid-twenties when he was, in fact, crowding forty. Most people couldn't believe he had done what it seemed he had done -- leaving Swango free to move on. And files and computer-based systems designed to catch people like Swango somehow came up deficient time after time.
I get the distinct feeling that Swango's 2000 life imprisonment (see https://www.cbsnews.com/news/life-in-... ) finally came about because people had read this detailed 1999 book and finally could connect the heretofore-missing dots. BLIND EYE is a good solid book to read, and while I feel its 300 page length is justified, some more photographs would have been nice -- and at times a higher sense of drama would have helped its prose, I believe.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2015
If you want to rack up body count as a serial killer, the best way is to be a doctor or nurse. You can kill so many people before getting caught.
This book is about serial killer doctor Michael Swango. The whole story is crazy. You can't believe how long he gets away with it.
The book has a justified tone of anger at the medical establishment, which fails to police itself. Doctors close ranks, hospitals are more concerned with avoiding scandals then with investigating reports of murder. So many nurses and patients complained about Swango, only to be ignored.
But also, people are trusting by nature. You don't expect someone to be a psychopathic lying serial killer.
I would like to think health information exchanges have improved to the point where someone like Swango could at least be immediately blackballed via internet. If a doctor has felonies for poisoning patients on their records can you at least try not to hire them elsewhere?
More books on doctor/nurse serial killers:
The Good Nurse (Charlie Cullen)
Prescription for Murder (Harold Shipman)
This book is about serial killer doctor Michael Swango. The whole story is crazy. You can't believe how long he gets away with it.
The book has a justified tone of anger at the medical establishment, which fails to police itself. Doctors close ranks, hospitals are more concerned with avoiding scandals then with investigating reports of murder. So many nurses and patients complained about Swango, only to be ignored.
But also, people are trusting by nature. You don't expect someone to be a psychopathic lying serial killer.
I would like to think health information exchanges have improved to the point where someone like Swango could at least be immediately blackballed via internet. If a doctor has felonies for poisoning patients on their records can you at least try not to hire them elsewhere?
More books on doctor/nurse serial killers:
The Good Nurse (Charlie Cullen)
Prescription for Murder (Harold Shipman)
March 10, 2013
Author and Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart puts together the story of Dr. Michael Swango, an attractive, pleasant and intelligent physician, who in reality is a serial killer. Swango practically bluffed his way through medical school; not because he wasn't qualified but because strange things happened to his patients when he was present....too many people with non-life threatening conditions were suddenly dying. This trend followed him into his residency and the medical schools involved turned a blind eye to what was happening. Testimony from nurses and patients was ignored as reputation and potential liability were put before patient safety. Swango moved to Zimbabwe (Africa) to escape investigation and the murders continued. He was finally brought back to the US to stand trial on lesser charges. The book ends here (it was written in 1999) but history tells us that the doctor was later charged with multiple murders and is now serving life without parole. It has been estimated his victim count is 35 but could possibly reach 60. A very chilling tale.
October 30, 2019
So I have never been a fan of doctors and I have pneumonia at the moment, so I have to deal with them. So may be it wasn't the best choice of book, because it tells the truly terrifying story of Michael Swango, a medical doctor and serial killer. It is estimated that he killed as many as 60 patients/colleagues with poison. But what is perhaps the even more terrifying story is how hierarchy within the medical community (doctor's word too often taken over that of nurses) and ineffective self policing allows someone like Swango to get away with murder for so many years.
September 29, 2010
I read so many sociopath books it's starting to look bad... If I were to ever be picked up by the police and they investigated my library record I would be locked up for sure.
September 28, 2014
Wow. This was a chilling encounter my medical student informed me of since "Dr. Death" began his killing at THE Ohio State. Stewart neatly chronicles this nearly unbelievable story well- it boggled my mind to read the first hand accounts of this psychopath's actions. Hiding behind gallows humor and the idea that a good bedside manner is optional for a good physician this guy slinked through med school by the skin of his teeth. It's even more terrifying how his charm was directed in such a self-serving manner as he ingratiated himself with whomever would advance his twisted directives. Stewart avoids over-moralizing about how the medical profession protects its own to a fault. He also didn't delve too deeply into the sociopathy but merely provided a rich background of his subject that was open to conjecture (describing Swango's absent father, loveless mother, life of unswerving perfection, a morbid fascination with death). Overall, I'm glad I read it but now I am double checking the locks on my doors at night. It reminded me that psychopaths hide by feigning normality until that last second their cheerfully giving you a "shot" to make you feel better.
December 10, 2016
This was truly a 5-star read -- a well-written, well-researched and utterly frightening true story. The story never dragged for a minute, even when the author was describing the CYA politics of the medical profession and the many hands the evidence passed through without anyone ever noticing the glaring fact that people were being murdered under their noses. A rather sly comment the author made towards the end -- stating essentially that MDs see themselves as fundamentally different from other people and thus above suspicion -- really summed it all up for me. the book hit me even harder because I read it so close on the heels of Paralyzing Summer: The True Story of the Ann Arbor V.A. Hospital Poisonings and Deaths, a case mentioned in this book as well.
March 14, 2012
Interesting book. I found the beginning to be a bit dragged down in details to the point of being incredibly boring (after a dramatic introduction we are subjected to chapter after chapter on his childhood and how distant the father is etc) but after the story gets towards the crimes it's interesting. I hadn't heard of this serial murderer before reading this book and I find it chilling how the events progressed. I'm amazing at how uninteresting the writing is for the subject, though it is incredibly detailed and well-researched as far as I can tell.
From a story perspective many of the details given are completely irrelevant but I assume many of the people reading true crime want to know every last detail, which you will get here if you are looking for it.
From a story perspective many of the details given are completely irrelevant but I assume many of the people reading true crime want to know every last detail, which you will get here if you are looking for it.
December 4, 2008
Sometimes people placed in positions of public trust turn out to be the bad guys - rogue cops, pedophile teachers, baby-stealing nurses. When we hear stories about these individuals, perhaps we pause a minute in wonder or just pass it off as a failure somewhere in The System.
What we don't often hear about is a doctors. Except for patient fondling by a few dentists and a handful of shrinks, doctors enjoy a pretty respected position high above other trusted figures. Maybe it's the commitment to so many grueling hours of school - who would risj all that? Or perhaps the bad ones wash out early and find other, easier professions.
So when one hears about a doctor who not only kills patients, but kills them at random, and then hides behind his position of trust and service, it seems particularly evil.
James B. Stewart, the Pulitzer Prize winner, hunted down enough dirt on Dr. Michael Swango to put together a complete and scary book. Blind Eye takes the reader through Swango's early years in high school through a career as a physician-serial killer. If H.H. Holmes (see Depraved by Harold Schechter) was America's first serial killer, Michael Swango could very well our most prolific. And both were physicians, curiously.
Stewart's estimate that Swango killed 60 people. This beats out Donald "the Angel of Death" Harvey, the Cincinnati nurse's aid who admitted to killing 52 people over his 16-year career; Henry Lee Lucas, a hero of Swango's evidently, who claims as many as 600 murders (police deny this is possible); and even Ted Bundy, thought the count of 26 victims is considered very conservative.
What makes Stewart's book so good, though, isn't the "ooh, isn't this gory" aspect, but rather his excellent research and tight writing that puts the reader there. You see "Dr. Mike" injecting lethal poison into the IV lines of his trusting patients. You see him denying involvement in tampering with food his co-workers later become violently ill from eating. The guy is scary.
He describes what I'd call the White Wall of Silence. Like the Blue one the cops enjoy, it appears that doctors build an even higher, more impenetrable one. And it's this that allows Swango to go on practicing as a doctor in one state after another until he's finally brought down.
Read this book. It's sobering and riveting.
What we don't often hear about is a doctors. Except for patient fondling by a few dentists and a handful of shrinks, doctors enjoy a pretty respected position high above other trusted figures. Maybe it's the commitment to so many grueling hours of school - who would risj all that? Or perhaps the bad ones wash out early and find other, easier professions.
So when one hears about a doctor who not only kills patients, but kills them at random, and then hides behind his position of trust and service, it seems particularly evil.
James B. Stewart, the Pulitzer Prize winner, hunted down enough dirt on Dr. Michael Swango to put together a complete and scary book. Blind Eye takes the reader through Swango's early years in high school through a career as a physician-serial killer. If H.H. Holmes (see Depraved by Harold Schechter) was America's first serial killer, Michael Swango could very well our most prolific. And both were physicians, curiously.
Stewart's estimate that Swango killed 60 people. This beats out Donald "the Angel of Death" Harvey, the Cincinnati nurse's aid who admitted to killing 52 people over his 16-year career; Henry Lee Lucas, a hero of Swango's evidently, who claims as many as 600 murders (police deny this is possible); and even Ted Bundy, thought the count of 26 victims is considered very conservative.
What makes Stewart's book so good, though, isn't the "ooh, isn't this gory" aspect, but rather his excellent research and tight writing that puts the reader there. You see "Dr. Mike" injecting lethal poison into the IV lines of his trusting patients. You see him denying involvement in tampering with food his co-workers later become violently ill from eating. The guy is scary.
He describes what I'd call the White Wall of Silence. Like the Blue one the cops enjoy, it appears that doctors build an even higher, more impenetrable one. And it's this that allows Swango to go on practicing as a doctor in one state after another until he's finally brought down.
Read this book. It's sobering and riveting.
June 7, 2016
"You must be mistaken. Doctors don't give injections at all. That's the nurses' job."
Society's adulation of doctors and the singular privilege we grant them to drug us is what makes these crimes seem so sacrilegious. Interesting throughout, the story of the doctor who poisons patients also takes some serious shots at the AMA:
The Ohio board allowed . . .
Doctors convicted of felonies such as drug trafficking, insurance fraud, forgery, theft, sexual assault, and drug abuse to remain in practice.
Physicians with serious alcohol or drug problems to remain in practice.
Doctors diagnosed as suffering severe mental problems to remain in practice.
Doctors convicted of felonies to remain in practice.
Physicians who repeatedly violated the law to remain in practice.
"The loyalty among physicians makes police officers' famous 'blue wall of silence' seem porous by comparison."
Great investigative journalism and a solid psychiatric conclusion discussing the narcissistic personality. One gripe: a rather sketchy summary of wife Kristen's suicide.
Society's adulation of doctors and the singular privilege we grant them to drug us is what makes these crimes seem so sacrilegious. Interesting throughout, the story of the doctor who poisons patients also takes some serious shots at the AMA:
The Ohio board allowed . . .
Doctors convicted of felonies such as drug trafficking, insurance fraud, forgery, theft, sexual assault, and drug abuse to remain in practice.
Physicians with serious alcohol or drug problems to remain in practice.
Doctors diagnosed as suffering severe mental problems to remain in practice.
Doctors convicted of felonies to remain in practice.
Physicians who repeatedly violated the law to remain in practice.
"The loyalty among physicians makes police officers' famous 'blue wall of silence' seem porous by comparison."
Great investigative journalism and a solid psychiatric conclusion discussing the narcissistic personality. One gripe: a rather sketchy summary of wife Kristen's suicide.
November 3, 2017
This book is fascinating and horrifying at the same time. It reminds me of Catholic priest paedophiles. They simply got moved to new parishes and this doctor simply moved from hospital to hospital, state to state and eventually out of the country. It seems that hospitals were more afraid of being sued than the fact they might have a murderer on staff. I wonder where he is today!
September 7, 2012
We had to read this book for work and it is creepy (I work in a Medical Staff Office at a Hospital). Makes you realize that your job is very important!
March 7, 2024
****SPOILERS! ****
Read the hardback version. I'm not fascinated by
murderers or serial killers. However I am fascinated
by how the good guys (police, FBI, prosecutors etc)
follow the clues and apprehend the perp.
Dr. Michael Swango MD grew up as the son of a career
military man, Virgil, & the family made 16 moves to
follow him. Michael as a youth seemed nearly obsessed
by guns, car crashes, thrillers, true crime, poison. And
as an adult, the Waco cult and fire, serial killers. Upon
Virgil's death, his wife discovered a violent death news
clippings scrapbook.
The author Stewart considered Swango a psychopath. No
one suspected intelligent, charming, hard-working, good
-looking Swango of these crimes. Swango chose Southern
Illinois University (SIL) for medical school- a 3 yr program
(4yrs being typical) from whence he eventually graduated.
Stewart followed Swango's medical career from Illinois,
Ohio, Virginia, W. Va., So. Datoka, New York, to Zimbobwe.
In some states he served as a medical resident & paramedic
at the same time! He had several internships in neurology,
psychiatry etc. At one pt Swango was convicted/ sent to
prison for 5 yrs (out in 2) for aggravated assault: poisoning
via food and beverages of 5 fellow paramedics. All 5 survived.
Swango legally changed his name upon his release.
Swango, seemingly perfect on his later resume, refused to
complete his SIL ob/gyn rotation, so he wasn't permitted to
graduate, eventually he completed it and graduated. He
next went to OSU medical school. A student nurse observed
Swango inject a chemical into a patient's IV ( nurses had IV
responsibility) & a patient and her roommate reported a
similar tale. The chemical injected into the patient's IV:
caused the pt to become paralyzed & required CPR. Swango,
alone w/ several patients, injected the chemical, the person
'coded,' needed CPR, then died. OSU did a superficial investi-
gation, didn't preserve evidence IE syringes or tubing, inval-
idated nurses etc Then concluded allegations against Swango
were unfounded.
Stewart shared at the time of this book's 1999 publication,
experts estimated 3-5% of all licensed MDs in the US were
impaired w/ substance abuse, senility, mental illness (and
unreliable), felonies, or lacked clinical skills to do the job.
In 1986, the National Practioner Data Bank became law &
in operation in Sept. 1990. Thereafter impaired licensed
physicians could be reported for disciplinary actions such
as suspension or termination as a MD or a revoked state
MD license.
The FBI estimated Swango murdered 60 patients, via adding
toxic arsenic or nicotine to a patient's IV. It became difficult
to prove w/ the passage of time b/c evidence was destroyed,
few witnessed him commit this crime,& did poisoning con-
tribute to the primary cause of the patient's death? The FBI
apprehended Swango @the Chicago airport (arriving from
Africa), charged him with a lessor crime, and he received a
sentence to a federal prison. Beyond the time period covered
in this book, he was convicted of murder.
It suprised me how gullible MDs & other allied medical
professionals acted toward Swango. Swango worked longer
hours than required, came in on his days off (!), and treated
patients not assigned to him. He required little sleep. All
"red flags."
Read the hardback version. I'm not fascinated by
murderers or serial killers. However I am fascinated
by how the good guys (police, FBI, prosecutors etc)
follow the clues and apprehend the perp.
Dr. Michael Swango MD grew up as the son of a career
military man, Virgil, & the family made 16 moves to
follow him. Michael as a youth seemed nearly obsessed
by guns, car crashes, thrillers, true crime, poison. And
as an adult, the Waco cult and fire, serial killers. Upon
Virgil's death, his wife discovered a violent death news
clippings scrapbook.
The author Stewart considered Swango a psychopath. No
one suspected intelligent, charming, hard-working, good
-looking Swango of these crimes. Swango chose Southern
Illinois University (SIL) for medical school- a 3 yr program
(4yrs being typical) from whence he eventually graduated.
Stewart followed Swango's medical career from Illinois,
Ohio, Virginia, W. Va., So. Datoka, New York, to Zimbobwe.
In some states he served as a medical resident & paramedic
at the same time! He had several internships in neurology,
psychiatry etc. At one pt Swango was convicted/ sent to
prison for 5 yrs (out in 2) for aggravated assault: poisoning
via food and beverages of 5 fellow paramedics. All 5 survived.
Swango legally changed his name upon his release.
Swango, seemingly perfect on his later resume, refused to
complete his SIL ob/gyn rotation, so he wasn't permitted to
graduate, eventually he completed it and graduated. He
next went to OSU medical school. A student nurse observed
Swango inject a chemical into a patient's IV ( nurses had IV
responsibility) & a patient and her roommate reported a
similar tale. The chemical injected into the patient's IV:
caused the pt to become paralyzed & required CPR. Swango,
alone w/ several patients, injected the chemical, the person
'coded,' needed CPR, then died. OSU did a superficial investi-
gation, didn't preserve evidence IE syringes or tubing, inval-
idated nurses etc Then concluded allegations against Swango
were unfounded.
Stewart shared at the time of this book's 1999 publication,
experts estimated 3-5% of all licensed MDs in the US were
impaired w/ substance abuse, senility, mental illness (and
unreliable), felonies, or lacked clinical skills to do the job.
In 1986, the National Practioner Data Bank became law &
in operation in Sept. 1990. Thereafter impaired licensed
physicians could be reported for disciplinary actions such
as suspension or termination as a MD or a revoked state
MD license.
The FBI estimated Swango murdered 60 patients, via adding
toxic arsenic or nicotine to a patient's IV. It became difficult
to prove w/ the passage of time b/c evidence was destroyed,
few witnessed him commit this crime,& did poisoning con-
tribute to the primary cause of the patient's death? The FBI
apprehended Swango @the Chicago airport (arriving from
Africa), charged him with a lessor crime, and he received a
sentence to a federal prison. Beyond the time period covered
in this book, he was convicted of murder.
It suprised me how gullible MDs & other allied medical
professionals acted toward Swango. Swango worked longer
hours than required, came in on his days off (!), and treated
patients not assigned to him. He required little sleep. All
"red flags."
July 30, 2021
A simply horrifying story of a doctor who may have killed up to 60 patients .... and yet was hired time and again by various hospitals around the world. Even back in medical school. Michael Swango raised suspicion from his fellow students, yet the school would not listen and did not act. OSU (Ohio State University) basically stonewalled law enforcement authorities and gave Swango recommendations so he was hired at other hospitals.
He served 5 years in prison, had a long history of dubious behavior .... yet hospitals could not be bothered to follow-up on his forged recommendations and lies in explaining his past. The National Practitioner Data Base is supposed to be a resource showing disciplinary actions against physicians, yet as of the writing of this book (1999) very few medical institutions were providing information.
As of 2000, Swango is serving a life time in ADX Florence, but any number of medical institutions doing the most basic due diligence could have stopped him back in the 1980's. While I found the story mesmerizing, Stewart's writing style felt very disorganized and the middle of the book bogs down discussing Swango's childhood endlessly, while actually skimming over details like Swango's five year prison term. I kept wishing Ann Rule had covered this story because all the details would have been crystal clear (IMHO). 3 stars.
Visit my new blog "I Love True Crime Books"
He served 5 years in prison, had a long history of dubious behavior .... yet hospitals could not be bothered to follow-up on his forged recommendations and lies in explaining his past. The National Practitioner Data Base is supposed to be a resource showing disciplinary actions against physicians, yet as of the writing of this book (1999) very few medical institutions were providing information.
As of 2000, Swango is serving a life time in ADX Florence, but any number of medical institutions doing the most basic due diligence could have stopped him back in the 1980's. While I found the story mesmerizing, Stewart's writing style felt very disorganized and the middle of the book bogs down discussing Swango's childhood endlessly, while actually skimming over details like Swango's five year prison term. I kept wishing Ann Rule had covered this story because all the details would have been crystal clear (IMHO). 3 stars.
Visit my new blog "I Love True Crime Books"
March 11, 2016
Fascinating story about an oddball misfit who somehow got into medical school, remained weird and aloof, began killing patients in ways that allowed him to be there pronouncing time of death, but just kept getting away with it. Most troubling and revealing was the way that the medical school stymied the investigative and reporting efforts of the few students who gradually became convinced "Dr. Death" (as they'd nicknamed him) was killing patients. What had tipped the students off was the man's complete lack of compassion or even interest in patients. All he seemed interested in was the dead and dying, even taking an extra job as an EMT because he got such a rush from arriving on the scene of horrible accidents or murders. His fellow EMTS likewise grew suspicious, but it was years before justice caught up with the man.
The fact that this is a true story just makes it that much scarier.
Besides the murdering, this is an excellent picture of a man who conned everyone and used people, somehow hiding his utter disregard for them on any level other than what they could do for him.
Interesting indictment of the "thin white line" of the medical community and its tendency to protect its own.
The fact that this is a true story just makes it that much scarier.
Besides the murdering, this is an excellent picture of a man who conned everyone and used people, somehow hiding his utter disregard for them on any level other than what they could do for him.
Interesting indictment of the "thin white line" of the medical community and its tendency to protect its own.
February 18, 2017
More than an exposé of a physician psychopath, Blind Eye is an indictment of the medical establishment's premise that the profession has the right to regulate itself. Eighteen years after this book was first published, the National Practitioner Data Bank, maintained at the expense of the US taxpayer, "does not include any information that identifies individual practitioners or reporting entities." Fortunately for health care consumers, the subject of this book is now serving three consecutive life sentences for three of his murders (alleged total as high as 60).
Stewart is a spell-binding writer. I'm lucky not have read anything of his before, as I now have much to look forward to.
Stewart is a spell-binding writer. I'm lucky not have read anything of his before, as I now have much to look forward to.
May 19, 2009
This is a story of love and life. No, wait a minute. That's not it at all.
This is the story of Michael Swango, a doctor who got a thrill out of poisoning patients. What's more amazing than the number of people he poisoned (some died, some didn't), was the ineptitude, and negligence of hospital administrators that continued to hire him.
This is investigative journalism at it's best.
This is the story of Michael Swango, a doctor who got a thrill out of poisoning patients. What's more amazing than the number of people he poisoned (some died, some didn't), was the ineptitude, and negligence of hospital administrators that continued to hire him.
This is investigative journalism at it's best.
November 19, 2022
I found a hardback copy of this at the library. It is nonfiction. I found the background (childhood) of Swango to be interesting. Does it explain why he felt compelled to kill patients and poison fellow workers and friends? No. Based on the information at the end of the book, there is no definitive explanation for why we have serial killers, nor for why there are more now.
The lack of a valid and shared reporting system used by the AMA, universities that train doctors, nor at hospitals to keep track of doctors who have problems (in this case poisoning and killing people) is appalling. The same situation exists for lawyers and the police. (My personal opinion.) CYA. Politics, funding, reputation are all more important than protecting others.
This is a fascinating true story of a deadly and strange doctor who could be deceptively charming and those who failed to protect patients. The nurses and others who felt he was dangerous were largely ignored.
I hope I never have to go the hospital!!
The lack of a valid and shared reporting system used by the AMA, universities that train doctors, nor at hospitals to keep track of doctors who have problems (in this case poisoning and killing people) is appalling. The same situation exists for lawyers and the police. (My personal opinion.) CYA. Politics, funding, reputation are all more important than protecting others.
This is a fascinating true story of a deadly and strange doctor who could be deceptively charming and those who failed to protect patients. The nurses and others who felt he was dangerous were largely ignored.
I hope I never have to go the hospital!!
January 5, 2009
As one might expect, the medical establishment has not been happy with this book. A quick look at Amazon.com reveals more than 70 customer reviews. Those with apparent ties to medicine look askance; those without medical affiliation loved the book although it terrified most readers, including me. Forget traditional vampire and slasher books; this is the real horror Story.
Michael Swango is a charming, debonair, handsome, and intelligent young man. He’s also a psychopath and a very convincing liar. He has a sterling academic record, scoring in the top of his class in high school, and at Millikin University, finally graduating summa cum laude from Quincy College. He entered SIU’s relatively new medical school in 1979, and was rather odd even then. His classmates remember him as bizarre, indulging in militaristic and antisocial activities, and he kept mostly to himself. He had been a Marine for a while -- his father had served in Vietnam, but even after his two tours of duty remained distant from his children -- and would often drop to the floor and do hundreds of pushups. No one could understand when he found time to study, but he claimed he never slept, and he seemed to have an obsession with death and traumatic accidents. He commuted miles to Springfield, Illinois where he worked as an ambulance attendant. He even gave his name to a peculiar method of cramming for exams. On Saturdays at SIU, exams were given in assorted modules, and Swango would run out of the room after each one and quickly reread the material the next test was to cover. Soon his classmates referred to this as “Swangoing,” a practice they viewed as close to cheating; in fact when it became more generally popular, the administration finally prohibited it. His behavior during his final rotation concerned many fellow students and he came within one vote of expulsion, but he managed to flummox the faculty and graduated late, moving on to a residency in neurosurgery. There, one of his student colleagues noticed that an unusual number of patients went “code,” or died, following seemingly normal or routine visits for histories and physicals by Swango. It even became something of a joke among the students that if you wanted to get rid of someone, “send them to Swango.” He was unable to graduate with his class because he butchered his obstetrics rotation so badly, but graduate he finally did. He was matched to a residency at Ohio State University, where a highly unusual string of deaths took place.
The nurses -- the relationship between nurses and doctors at OSU was one of master and slave and the nurses were rarely listened to -- were the first to notice weird things, and finally a woman who saw Swango administering an injection to her, whereupon she became almost instantly paralyzed, managed to rattle her bed to get the attention of others and she survived. The investigation that followed is detailed by Stewart, and it’s what I found most disturbing. I can understand how medical schools might not investigate the history of the residents or doctors thoroughly. After all, one tends to be rather trusting, and it’s often difficult not to want to believe what people say, but OSU repeatedly refused to believe the patients’ and nurses’ reports of disturbing events. When the OSU police force and state licensing board later tried to investigate, they were repeatedly stonewalled by a very tight-knit old-boy network. Swango returned to Illinois following his suspension from the OSU program (because of the stonewalling, police were unable to collect evidence related to the deaths) and was hired as an emergency medical technician. He loved working extra hours and regaling everyone with the gory details of traffic accidents and other tragedies. His co-workers noticed that whenever Swango treated any of them to food, he would never eat any, and they became violently ill. They reported their suspicions of attempted poisoning to the police, and Swango was convicted of non fatally attempting to poison his colleagues. A search of his lodgings revealed recipes for poisons, stores of arsenic, and hoards of paralytic agents that were often difficult to trace. Swango served a term in prison, but, after his release, he managed to be matched to a medical residency program in South Dakota. Suspicious deaths again began to occur. This was to be repeated at several locations, Swango always managing to cajole his way into a new position through creative lying and disingenuousness. He eventually wound up in Africa at several missionary hospitals where he was more quickly found out due to a closer working relationship between police and hospital officials.
The FBI had meanwhile begun an investigation, motivated especially by the death of Swango’s wife before he left for Africa, and they arrested him on his return at O’Hare, managing only to charge him with falsification of records on his medical applications. He was due to be released from prison July 15, 2000, and according to an update in a review of Stewart’s book in the New England Journal of Medicine, he may be charged with murder. Stewart estimates that Swango may have been responsible for killing some sixty people. Dr. Richard Ratzan, NEJM’s reviewer, takes a more responsible position in his reaction to the book than most reviewers with medical ties, who are extremely defensive. Dr. Ratzan notes that, in his 13 years on the Connecticut medical examining board, he could not “think of one case brought to us by another physician. It should be the standard of practice to try to segregate any colleague who we think may be likely to hurt an unsuspecting but trusting person who comes to us sick and asking for help.” Unfortunately, as this book shows, failure to responsibly evaluate colleagues can have tragic results.
Michael Swango is a charming, debonair, handsome, and intelligent young man. He’s also a psychopath and a very convincing liar. He has a sterling academic record, scoring in the top of his class in high school, and at Millikin University, finally graduating summa cum laude from Quincy College. He entered SIU’s relatively new medical school in 1979, and was rather odd even then. His classmates remember him as bizarre, indulging in militaristic and antisocial activities, and he kept mostly to himself. He had been a Marine for a while -- his father had served in Vietnam, but even after his two tours of duty remained distant from his children -- and would often drop to the floor and do hundreds of pushups. No one could understand when he found time to study, but he claimed he never slept, and he seemed to have an obsession with death and traumatic accidents. He commuted miles to Springfield, Illinois where he worked as an ambulance attendant. He even gave his name to a peculiar method of cramming for exams. On Saturdays at SIU, exams were given in assorted modules, and Swango would run out of the room after each one and quickly reread the material the next test was to cover. Soon his classmates referred to this as “Swangoing,” a practice they viewed as close to cheating; in fact when it became more generally popular, the administration finally prohibited it. His behavior during his final rotation concerned many fellow students and he came within one vote of expulsion, but he managed to flummox the faculty and graduated late, moving on to a residency in neurosurgery. There, one of his student colleagues noticed that an unusual number of patients went “code,” or died, following seemingly normal or routine visits for histories and physicals by Swango. It even became something of a joke among the students that if you wanted to get rid of someone, “send them to Swango.” He was unable to graduate with his class because he butchered his obstetrics rotation so badly, but graduate he finally did. He was matched to a residency at Ohio State University, where a highly unusual string of deaths took place.
The nurses -- the relationship between nurses and doctors at OSU was one of master and slave and the nurses were rarely listened to -- were the first to notice weird things, and finally a woman who saw Swango administering an injection to her, whereupon she became almost instantly paralyzed, managed to rattle her bed to get the attention of others and she survived. The investigation that followed is detailed by Stewart, and it’s what I found most disturbing. I can understand how medical schools might not investigate the history of the residents or doctors thoroughly. After all, one tends to be rather trusting, and it’s often difficult not to want to believe what people say, but OSU repeatedly refused to believe the patients’ and nurses’ reports of disturbing events. When the OSU police force and state licensing board later tried to investigate, they were repeatedly stonewalled by a very tight-knit old-boy network. Swango returned to Illinois following his suspension from the OSU program (because of the stonewalling, police were unable to collect evidence related to the deaths) and was hired as an emergency medical technician. He loved working extra hours and regaling everyone with the gory details of traffic accidents and other tragedies. His co-workers noticed that whenever Swango treated any of them to food, he would never eat any, and they became violently ill. They reported their suspicions of attempted poisoning to the police, and Swango was convicted of non fatally attempting to poison his colleagues. A search of his lodgings revealed recipes for poisons, stores of arsenic, and hoards of paralytic agents that were often difficult to trace. Swango served a term in prison, but, after his release, he managed to be matched to a medical residency program in South Dakota. Suspicious deaths again began to occur. This was to be repeated at several locations, Swango always managing to cajole his way into a new position through creative lying and disingenuousness. He eventually wound up in Africa at several missionary hospitals where he was more quickly found out due to a closer working relationship between police and hospital officials.
The FBI had meanwhile begun an investigation, motivated especially by the death of Swango’s wife before he left for Africa, and they arrested him on his return at O’Hare, managing only to charge him with falsification of records on his medical applications. He was due to be released from prison July 15, 2000, and according to an update in a review of Stewart’s book in the New England Journal of Medicine, he may be charged with murder. Stewart estimates that Swango may have been responsible for killing some sixty people. Dr. Richard Ratzan, NEJM’s reviewer, takes a more responsible position in his reaction to the book than most reviewers with medical ties, who are extremely defensive. Dr. Ratzan notes that, in his 13 years on the Connecticut medical examining board, he could not “think of one case brought to us by another physician. It should be the standard of practice to try to segregate any colleague who we think may be likely to hurt an unsuspecting but trusting person who comes to us sick and asking for help.” Unfortunately, as this book shows, failure to responsibly evaluate colleagues can have tragic results.
July 2, 2023
I’ve read and watched a lot of true crime stories but this one might be one of the most chilling. Maybe in part because he’s from my hometown. I can’t believe there hasn’t been a docuseries about Swango yet. Stewart, also from Quincy, wrote a very comprehensive account that honors the many victims who never received justice.
November 10, 2017
James B. Stewart’s, Blind Eye, is a true book on how a young doctor, Michael Swango, poisoned and murdered patients and co-workers. The book follows records and stories of Swango wherever he went from Ohio, to Illinois, to New York and South Dakota. Swango had a good first impression and was looked upon as the exemplar physician, little did everyone know the blind eye they had to his criminal activities.
Throughout the book Stewart explains how the medical community knew about Swango’s shenanigans for the majority of the time but never said anything. They all just sat there and pretended like it wasn’t happening, if someone were to bring it up it would be shut down by those with more power. For example, Stewart references times where nurses, hospital employees and even patients are ignored because a doctor believed a fellow physician’s word due to his/her higher position or because they built up a blind eye to the sticky situations they were all stuck in. Blind Eye is a very focused book that leaves the reader questioning several things in life regarding what one believes and what one doesn’t know.
In conclusion, Blind Eye is a good read with lots of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat eager to read more. As well as the theory of a blind eye leaving one to always wonder if they are subject to the effect.
Throughout the book Stewart explains how the medical community knew about Swango’s shenanigans for the majority of the time but never said anything. They all just sat there and pretended like it wasn’t happening, if someone were to bring it up it would be shut down by those with more power. For example, Stewart references times where nurses, hospital employees and even patients are ignored because a doctor believed a fellow physician’s word due to his/her higher position or because they built up a blind eye to the sticky situations they were all stuck in. Blind Eye is a very focused book that leaves the reader questioning several things in life regarding what one believes and what one doesn’t know.
In conclusion, Blind Eye is a good read with lots of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat eager to read more. As well as the theory of a blind eye leaving one to always wonder if they are subject to the effect.
July 25, 2009
This was one of those great nonfiction books that reads like a novel, so it's entertaining AND you learn about something! : ) I also enjoyed it b/c I'm in the health care field. But it was a page-turner and I'd recommend it to anyone!
February 7, 2017
How scary to think that someone who decides to be a doctor would kill patients. But what was more scary is the way that those in administration glossed over the accusations for fear of being sued. We have become a society where we sue for so many reasons and courts grant unreasonable awards,
March 6, 2014
Terrifying! Hits close to home since he spent some time in Columbus. Gives some good insight on the healthcare system and how we check ourselves.
February 6, 2017
True story. Fascinating. SO MANY turned a Blind Eye to this guy. A lesson in the importance of speaking up.
June 19, 2019
*2.5
Good true crime, but I think ultimately this just wasn't the type of true crime I like.
Full RTC.
Good true crime, but I think ultimately this just wasn't the type of true crime I like.
Full RTC.
July 23, 2024
Yikes. Frightening!
March 6, 2026
This book is a great true documentary of a man with a medical degree that managed to deceive the medical industry for many years, killing patients with poisoning. The way several hospitals just swept it under the carpet and tried to move him along is utterly amazing and truly terrifying. Especially how The Ohio State University Hospital totally ignored the signs and the evidence, allowing and enabling this man to move on at a very early stage in his medical career to kill numerous innocent persons within other hospitals and medical facilities. It is truly sad how many hospitals protect their doctors, regardless of what the doctors have done. So many hospitals don’t want to be associated with these bad persons, nor do they want their hospital reputation tarnished by the acknowledgment of the affiliation with these doctors and sometime nurses too. It’s very frightening and dangerous for the general public when seeking professional medical care.
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