A few of the Gov. Tim Walz’s most recent board appointments caught our eye. We thought we’d fill you in.
Court of Appeals Judge Louise Dovre Bjorkman has been appointed to another term on the Board of Judicial Standards. That’s the state agency that responds to conduct complaints about state court judges.
Her new term is effective on March 1 and expires on Jan. 6, 2025.
To the same board, the governor appointed as a public member Scott Sakaguchi, an Edina physician. Sakaguchi is a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Cardiovascular Division. A new appointee, his term also begins on March 1 and ends on Jan. 6, 2025.
KARE 11 Investigates: Unethical record of Minnesota’s largest jail health care provider
Led by a doctor reprimanded by the state medical board, a KARE 11 investigation finds MEnD Correctional Care now faces multiple federal lawsuits over inmate deaths Author: Brandon Stahl (KARE11), A.J. Lagoe, Steve Eckert Published: 7:18 PM EST December 10, 2020 Updated: 11:35 PM EST December 10, 2020
Dr. Todd Leonard sat before the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice, ready for his punishment.
An investigation by the state Attorney General’s office revealed a long list of what the board would call “unethical and unprofessional conduct.”
Among them: records show he repeatedly prescribed narcotics without documenting if his patients actually needed them; if he put them on the drugs, he often failed document their risk for suicide or addiction, then failed to see if they actually worked or if his patients were stealing the drugs.