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Clearwater man accused of posing as doctor

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 22, 2009

Vladimir Kossatchev, a.k.a. Vladimir Martin

CLEARWATER - The electrocardiogram electrodes he placed on one woman patient kept slipping off. He had to prick another woman several times before finding a source for a blood sample. And he was dispensing pain medication but wasn't authorized, authorities said.

A man who told investigators he went to medical school in the former Soviet Union and practiced medicine in a hospital in Ukraine was arrested over the weekend on a charge of practicing medicine without a license.

Vladimir Kossatchev, who also goes by the name of Vladimir Martin, was arrested Saturday. The 43-year-old Clearwater man was released from the Pinellas County Jail on $10,000 bond.

According to court documents made public this morning, Martin was qualifying people for a clinical trial for pain relief medication and dispensing the controlled substances without authorization.

On at least one occasion, he worked out of an office at 1831 N. Belcher Road, which had on its door the name "Alliance Medical Research," the court documents say.

One woman who had been diagnosed with a degenerating disk found the office after searching on the Internet in October 2007 for clinical trials involving pain relievers, the documents say. After she went there, her blood pressure was taken, her blood was drawn and she was given an EKG, the documents say.

Kossatchev – who identified himself as "Dr. Martin" – told her she would be on a certain drug and asked her to record her reactions in a diary, the documents say. But the drugs were having no effect, and the woman complained as much on the fifth visit, the documents say.

He adjusted the dosage, but the prescription still had no effect, the documents say. The woman grew uncomfortable in part because when Martin conducted the EKG the electrodes would sometimes slide off, the documents say.

Another woman victim learned of the trial after receiving an advertisement in the mail, the documents say. But the place she was told to make an appointment was Gulf-to-Bay Medical Clinic, 1420 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd., even though the only name on the door was "Dr. Jackson," the documents say.

The woman met Kossatchev and supplied a urine sample for testing. Kossatchev also listened to her heart with a stethoscope. He then told her to return for blood testing, the documents say. When she did, he gave her medication he said was designed to curb pain, but, after 13 visits – five at the clinic and eight at Alliance Medical Research – she stopped because "the medication did not really work," the documents state.

It was this woman who observed that Kossatchev sometimes had to stick her four times in order to find a suitable vein for a blood draw, the documents state.

A woman eventually contacted the Florida Department of Health and gave investigators information explaining how Kossatchev ended up practicing medicine and taking part in clinical drug trials in Pinellas County.

The woman said she and Kossatchev got into a romantic relationship in 2003, and she introduced him to her mother's family physician, Robert Jackson, who worked at the Gulf-to-Bay Medical Clinic, the court documents say. She also introduced her lover to another physician, Valy Subramanian, whom she had gone to for pain management, the documents say.

Jackson gave Kossatchev an office at Gulf-to-Bay Medical Clinic, and Kossatchev also saw patients at Subramanian's office, the documents say. All the while, he claimed he was conducting a clinical trial involving opiates and constipation and boasted he had the second-highest participation enrollment in the United States for this study, the documents say.

His paramour worked for him as his clinical study coordinator, the documents say. He identified himself as "Dr. Martin," and whenever she pointed out to people he was not a licensed physician, there was conflict between them. He also asked her to schedule appointments at Jackson's office during lunch breaks, presumably to reduce traffic and room conflicts.

Investigators found that Kossatchev had filed paperwork with a review board in Atlanta that provides research-related services to sites where clinical trials are conducted. Specifically, he gave the board an application stating he was a medical doctor with the name Vladimir Martin and that he was the medical director of Alliance Medical Research Group.

Investigators also received a copy of a drug-dispensing log with his initials indicating he was the person who dispensed the drugs and was authorized to do so, the documents state.

Investigators interviewed Kossatchev at Alliance Medical Research on July 15. He gave them a tour of the facility. He said he was conducting four drug trials, and that one, part of a Johnson & Johnson study, involved oxycodone, the documents say.

Kossatchev said Jackson gave each participant a physical as required by protocol, and he admitted to adjusting the medical dosages, even though Jackson wasn't available to examine or interview the patients at those times, the documents say.

He said he studied medicine in the former Soviet Union and had been a practicing doctor at a hospital in Ukraine, the documents say. He admitted he did not have a license to practice medicine in Florida but said he wasn't practicing medicine, the documents say. When he was told he was not authorized to dispense drugs, he said he had a letter from the drug-trial sponsor authorizing him to do so.

Jackson was the so-called principal investigator for a number of studies, Jackson told investigators. He confirmed he met Kossatchev through Kossatchev's lover and that Jackson and Kossatchev started doing the trials at Jackson's Gulf-to-Bay clinic but moved the operation to Belcher Road because it got too crowded and there was too much paperwork involved, the documents say.

Jackson told investigators that, according to the protocol for clinical trials that was supplied to him by the sponsor of the trials, it was OK if an unlicensed person dispensed medication in the absence of a physician. He said he was unaware those protocols conflicted with state law, the documents say.

Jackson, again citing the protocol, also said he believed it was all right if Kossatchev adjusted the medication without the patient being evaluated by a physician. Still, he insisted he had given every patient in a particular study a physical examination, the court documents say. He could not explain how two patients gave sworn statements saying they never received one.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

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