Typically, emergency room doctors do everything they can to save lives. But 56-year-old Kristen Howard nearly did the opposite. Although she was named doctor of the year at a Massachusetts hospital in 2009, she nearly killed a 78-year old man Friday when she T-boned his car.
Police said that Howard was drunk and had drugs in her system when they arrested her. Still wearing her hospital scrubs when the crash occurred, she had just run into a fence — twice — and a van in a Whole Foods parking lot before barreling across a busy roadway and slamming into Paul McDonald's car.
You can see the video here.
McDonald suffered broken ribs and bruising, but is, thankfully, alive and well. Howard was uninjured, but was taken off Newton-Wellesley Hospital's roster of ER docs while an investigation is underway.
If the charges stick, I can't imagine Howard will get her job back. That acrobatic car stunt she managed to pull off was a pretty good indication that she might have been absolutely hammered. The last thing anyone needs is an ER doctor who creates ER patients in her off time. It kind of defeats the purpose of trying to help people.
Photo credit: WPRI News