American Notes The Navy

Although Dr. Donal Billig had a flawed record as a physician, he got further than most: in little more than a year, he went from serving on the staff of a Pittsburgh hospital to running cardiothoracic surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the Navy's flagship health operation. But his success was of short duration. After an in-house investigation, Bethesda suspended Billig last week for "an insufficient level of surgical competence."

Billig's problems began when a New Jersey hospital where he was working in 1980 refused to allow him to operate without supervision because of questionable surgical judgment. He later resigned from that facility. After a stint at the Pittsburgh hospital, Billig, a graduate of the University of Louisville School of Medicine, was recruited by the Navy. At Bethesda, things began to go bad after ten months. In 1983 the hospital suspended Billig's surgery credentials, later reinstating them. Some reports say the Navy knew of Billig's New Jersey history when it approached him; a naval investigation is to begin this week.