Power and Fraud: Why Do People Never Learn?

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In June, 2009, Dr. Antonia Coello-Novello pleaded guilty of committing fraud against the city of New York, after she accepted that she had requested her employees to perform personal tasks for her. The estimated cost in this case is $448,000. Dr. Coello-Novello, born in Puerto Rico, was the first woman appointed Surgeon General in the United Sates, and the first Hispanic in the position as well. As a result of her actions, she will have to refund the money, pay a fine and do community work in a New York clinic.

This case partly reminded me of the San Juan AIDS Institute case, which happened during the time I was an employee there. Ten years ago, the Federal Government finished the first phase of the San Juan AIDS Institute case involving fraud. A medical doctor, a senator, the Human Resources officer, the institution’s property manager and the general manager were convicted and sent to prison and/or probation. One of them was Jeannette Sotomayor, a Registered Pharmacist and Manager for the San Juan AIDS Institute. She was my supervisor from October 1992 to May 1994.

On October 17, 1992, I was hired by Sotomayor as a temporary employee to cover her secretary’s maternity leave. When my temporary contract was about to finish, I was offered a permanent position for which I qualified, after an employee had resigned. I never had any complaints regarding Sotomayor’s supervisory style. In fact, she respected my work and allowed professional growth. She was a very accessible supervisor, who constantly motivated the employees. About the actions that lead to her conviction, I can say very little. All I learned about the case is mostly from the media coverage, and from public documents that can be found at the Federal Court’s library.

The San Juan AIDS Institute, as I Knew It

The San Juan AIDS Institute offered state-of-the-art healthcare to adult and pediatric HIV-positive and AIDS patients. Its mother company was named Advanced Community Health Services. In the early 90’s, people diagnosed as HIV positive had a bad prognosis. Since the AIDS patients’ immune system is weak, they soon developed opportunistic diseases and progressed to the terminal phase. Today, thank God and medical advances, AIDS is considered a chronic condition, and there are treatment alternatives. I feel honored to have witnessed the evolution of medical treatment for AIDS patients. Nowadays HIV positive patients can achieve undetectable viral load lab results if medical instructions are followed carefully.