Having sexual contact with patients, exchanging painkillers for oral sex, and impersonating another doctor in an attempt to a fill a phony prescription at a pharmacy.
These are some of the allegations the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners leveled against two doctors who now treat Alabama's inmates, an AL.com investigation has found.
Family medicine and internal medicine physicians Timothy Iliff Sr. and David J. Pavlakovic were previously barred from practicing medicine in the state for the infractions, Alabama Medical Licensure Commission discipline records show. Now, Iliff works at Fountain Correctional Facility in Atmore, and Pavlakovic works at St. Clair Correctional Facility in Springville.
Since regaining their medical licenses, both doctors were employed by Corizon, which provides inmate health care to the state's 25,000 inmates. Corizon signed a 34-month $224 million contract with the Alabama Department of Corrections in 2012 after submitting the only bid for the work. The Alabama Department of Corrections did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit against the ADOC in June, alleging the inmate health care is inadequate and unconstitutional. Lawyers from the Alabama law firm Maynard Cooper & Gale are defending the state against the lawsuit on behalf of Corizon. AL.com is taking a closer look at the health care contract in light of the lawsuit.
Maria Morris, the managing attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, called the hiring of the two doctors "extremely concerning."
Arrested with painkillers in the car
Iliff first surrendered his Alabama medical license in October 2009, Alabama Medical Licensure Commission records show.
An Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners complaint alleges that Iliff had sexual contact with a patient from 2007 to 2009. He prescribed her an excessive amount of controlled substances for no medical reason, the complaint said.
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That patient claimed Iliff gave her money and prescriptions for the drugs in exchange for sexual intercourse, according to the complaint. Iliff also prescribed drugs to his immediate family members and other people without keeping proper documentation.
Iliff also tried to get drugs by calling a pharmacy on July 8, 2009, and identifying himself as another physician, according to the complaint.
Thirteen years earlier, Iliff was charged with a felony in Lowndes County, Miss., for attempting to obtain drugs fraudulently, according to the complaint. Iliff would call in and write prescriptions for drugs for two women when they were not medically necessary. The complaint states that he agreed to two years of active probation and avoided a conviction in his record.
"The Board alleges that continuation in the practice of medicine by Dr. Iliff constitutes a danger to patients and the public because Dr. Iliff's attempt to obtain a controlled substance by fraudulent means... constitutes a continuing pattern of behavior," the complaint states.
In January 2012, Iliff reapplied for his medical license. At that time, he stated that he had an inappropriate relationship with a woman he worked with and gave her pills without a prescription, Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners records show.
In his application for reinstatement, Iliff wrote that he was arrested in 2009 after he attempted to pick up a phony prescription for his co-worker and had a bottle of hydrocodone – an addictive painkiller – in his car.
The commission reinstated Iliff's medical license in August 2012 after he agreed to a treatment plan.
Reached at Fountain, Illiff said, "you just better make sure what you say is true and factual," before declining further comment.
Iliff's son, Timothy Iliff Jr., is an internal medicine physician. He does not have any complaints or a public file with the Alabama Medical Licensure Commission.
"Pattern and practice of inappropriate sexual behavior"
Pavlakovic's license was suspended in September 2008 after the state's license commission alleged he had sexual contact with four patients, and attempted to have sex with a fifth patient.
The Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners contended that Pavlakovic agreed to give one of his patients drugs in exchange for oral sex, and he asked another patient to be his date for a social event.
"The Board alleges that Dr. Pavlakovic has engaged in a pattern and practice of inappropriate sexual behavior with patients by kissing patients on the mouth, fondling patients' breasts, and exposing his penis to patients during the time period when he was rendering medical treatment, including prescriptions for controlled substances, to these patients," wrote commission executive director Larry Dixon.
Pavlakovic testified before the commission in May 2009 and admitted to many of the allegations against him, according to an order from the Alabama Medical Licensure Commission. One month later, the commission lifted the suspension on Pavlakovic's license and put him on probation pending the completion of treatment program with the Medicine Institute of Atlanta.
According to the terms of the agreement, Pavlakovic was barred from having any sexual contact with any current or former patients or staff members and he was required to have a chaperone present while he examined any female patient.
Court records show Pavlakovic was charged with sexual abuse in 2008. It was later dismissed. Multiple messages were left for the Shelby County district attorney's office.
Pavlakovic declined comment for this story.
A spokeswoman for Corizon issued the following statement:
"Corizon is committed to providing quality care to our patients.
Corizon physicians undergo a thorough review of their history by our credentialing committee. Corizon employs only those physicians who have been granted practice privileges by their respective governing board, in this case the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners.
Corizon maintains a rigorous Continuous Quality Improvement and Physician Peer Review Program to monitor all of our practitioners, including physicians. We do this as an established standard of practice for health care systems as well as to ensure that our personnel meet acceptable standards of practice in both the delivery of clinical care as well as behaviors."
According to Corizon's contract, the firm is required to have a medical malpractice insurance policy worth at least $1 million per occurrence and $3 million aggregate.
You can read the discipline records of Pavlakovic and Iliff below.
David Pavlakovic:
Timothy Iliff:
This story was updated at at 5:07 p.m. Sept. 17, 2014 to differentiate Timothy Iliff, the physician documented in this story, from his son.