Med student steals dying patient's iPad

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I was once falsely accused of stealing. Luckily for me, the accuser apologized once they found out I didn't do it and sent me an apology gift. It wasn't a big deal, a misunderstanding that I had forgotten about until now. If this is really a misunderstanding, this girl's reputation is ruined and her career will probably suffer to some degree. This is why I don't watch the local news.
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trepon said:
I was once falsely accused of stealing. Luckily for me, the accuser apologized once they found out I didn't do it and sent me an apology gift. It wasn't a big deal, a misunderstanding that I had forgotten about until now. If this is really a misunderstanding, this girl's reputation is ruined and her career will probably suffer to some degree. This is why I don't watch the local news.
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you can say that again-- now it's on the h-post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/08/med-student-ipad-theft_n_5948500.html
 
If she was asked to leave in 2012, why was she on rotations in 2013? If she was on a clerkship in 2013, she must have successfully finished the preclinical curriculum, and so the shortcoming must have been in her clerkship performance - which begs the question of what sorts of things (other than stealing an iPad) would cause one to fail a clinical clerkship?! As an attending, I have had numerous borderline medical students, but I don't ever not pass them -- in some ways a mere "pass" instead of HP/H is more telling -- but never an outright "fail".
 
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fluvoxamine said:
If she was asked to leave in 2012, why was she on rotations in 2013? If she was on a clerkship in 2013, she must have successfully finished the preclinical curriculum, and so the shortcoming must have been in her clerkship performance - which begs the question of what sorts of things (other than stealing an iPad) would cause one to fail a clinical clerkship?! As an attending, I have had numerous borderline medical students, but I don't ever not pass them -- in some ways a mere "pass" instead of HP/H is more telling -- but never an outright "fail".
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What if you go to a school with only Honors, Pass, and Fail with no High Pass? I think that changes the dynamic quite a bit.
 
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Then more students will likely get shunted to the honors group. It's part of the game.
 
fluvoxamine said:
Then more students will likely get shunted to the honors group. It's part of the game.
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Not at my school... Most people get passes. It's very hard to get honors where I'm at.
 
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fluvoxamine said:
If she was asked to leave in 2012, why was she on rotations in 2013? If she was on a clerkship in 2013, she must have successfully finished the preclinical curriculum, and so the shortcoming must have been in her clerkship performance - which begs the question of what sorts of things (other than stealing an iPad) would cause one to fail a clinical clerkship?! As an attending, I have had numerous borderline medical students, but I don't ever not pass them -- in some ways a mere "pass" instead of HP/H is more telling -- but never an outright "fail".
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If she was asked to leave in 2012 - she would still be in preclinical. She might have appealed and won and moved on.
 
DaTruMD said:
Not at my school... Most people get passes. It's very hard to get honors where I'm at.
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To be fair though, I doubt more students would get shunted to fail though. Its one thing to not give everyone Honors, but its another to fail a substantial number of your own students.

In any case, this is insane. How have I just noticed this now? I really hope this was a mistake. If not (it doesn't sound like it was) then I hope she gets what's coming to her.

From the Huffinton Post article: "Nguyen said she had picked up the iPad by mistake, thinking it was hers, and was too scared of the repercussions to return it." Yeah, I'm starting to think she did it on purpose... Apparently she also presumably took the patient's glasses...
 
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hallowmann said:
To be fair though, I doubt more students would get shunted to fail though. Its one thing to not give everyone Honors, but its another to fail a substantial number of your own students.

In any case, this is insane. How have I just noticed this now? I really hope this was a mistake. If not (it doesn't sound like it was) then I hope she gets what's coming to her.

From the Huffinton Post article: "Nguyen said she had picked up the iPad by mistake, thinking it was hers, and was too scared of the repercussions to return it." Yeah, I'm starting to think she did it on purpose... Apparently she also took the patient's glasses...
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Ok let's be real, why would she take someone's glasses? That alone makes the story implausible
 
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Her story is BS. She would know within 5 seconds of opening the iPad that it wasn't hers.

Stupid, dumb, horrible thing to do. A career lost. What an idiot.
 
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VisionaryTics said:
Her story is BS. She would know within 5 seconds of opening the iPad that it wasn't hers.

Stupid, dumb, horrible thing to do. A career lost. What an idiot.
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That's not the point. She states she knew, but was afraid to come forward due to her previous issues with the administration at UCLA....If that's true, I think that changes things and that it was not a deliberate attempt to steal something from a dying patient. Still made the wrong decision, it's just less malicious.
 
WeAreNotRobots said:
UPDATE:
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...ent-Virginia-Nguyen-iPad-Theft-286591091.html



...thoughts?
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Well it's definitely plausible she was just scared of repercussion for returning it. I can understand her distrust of authority and how that would factor into her choices that she made.

Or maybe she's just fooling everyone? But what's worse; a little bit of hurt pride over an iPad on the chance of being fooled by a lie or ruining a persons life if she is telling the truth?

Maybe it's my naïveté giving her the benefit of the doubt, I just hesitate to nail someone to a cross so quickly over something that little. Nobody would throw away their career for an iPad and it seems to me she was behaving in almost a paranoid/irrational manner precisely out of that fear of loosing everything.
 
liquidshadow22 said:
That's not the point. She states she knew, but was afraid to come forward due to her previous issues with the administration at UCLA....If that's true, I think that changes things and that it was not a deliberate attempt to steal something from a dying patient. Still made the wrong decision, it's just less malicious.
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that changes nothing. she changed the name on the ipad and used it as hers. they're not going to expel her if she gives it back after she notices, could have easily said it was an honest mistake and she was just really tired. ipad given back and no harm done. when she changed the name and data on it, she sealed her fate. it was a deliberate attempt when she realized it was not hers and she effectively made it her own by renaming it and putting her data on it.
 
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of course she plays the sympathy card too about being a foster child and etc. who cares. you had your shot and you blew it.
 
I don't know how much time expired between events, but that doesn't make sense why she would back up the owner's information and replace it with her own despite knowing good and well that it wasn't her iPad. She may not have had criminal intent at the time she picked up the iPad, because the similar/identical cover would lead her to believe, at least at the time, that it was hers. However, she dug herself into a hole once she figured out it wasn't hers and still went ahead and replaced the information with her own. Once she figured out that it wasn't hers, all she had to do was return it to the ICU. Even if someone confronted her about returning it, all she had to say was that she was mistaken by the fact that she couldn't find hers and saw that the iPad had the same cover. It's an honest mistake, and that would have been the end of it. End of story, case closed.
 
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Mr. Mojo Risin said:
I don't know how much time expired between events, but that doesn't make sense why she would back up the owner's information and replace it with her own despite knowing good and well that it wasn't her iPad. She may not have had criminal intent at the time she picked up the iPad, because the similar/identical cover would lead her to believe, at least at the time, that it was hers. However, she dug herself into a hole once she figured out it wasn't hers and still went ahead and replaced the information with her own. Once she figured out that it wasn't hers, all she had to do was return it to the ICU. Even if someone confronted her about returning it, all she had to say was that she was mistaken by the fact that she couldn't find hers and saw that the iPad had the same cover. It's an honest mistake, and that would have been the end of it. End of story, case closed.
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Yes for you it makes sense and you can't see it any other way because you've never had an adverse experience with authority.
 
Absolute without a doubt pure unadulterated baloney.

If I had accidentally picked up the wrong iPad and feared administration as she claims, I would have either left it at a nurses station or Tossed it in a dumpster. Her story is utter crap and she deserves a lot worse than she got. I mean come on, she was so afraid of repercussions that she knowingly carried a stolen iPad to the hospital every day for six months.

She should not be allowed to practice clinical medicine and I would not trust her as a researcher either. Character is everything, and she has made hers known.
 
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operaman said:
Absolute without a doubt pure unadulterated baloney.

If I had accidentally picked up the wrong iPad and feared administration as she claims, I would have either left it at a nurses station or Tossed it in a dumpster. Her story is utter crap and she deserves a lot worse than she got. I mean come on, she was so afraid of repercussions that she knowingly carried a stolen iPad to the hospital every day for six months.

She should not be allowed to practice clinical medicine and I would not trust her as a researcher either. Character is everything, and she has made hers known.
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You beat me to it. She should have destroyed it and then it wouldn't have been traced to her.
 
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operaman said:
Absolute without a doubt pure unadulterated baloney.

If I had accidentally picked up the wrong iPad and feared administration as she claims, I would have either left it at a nurses station or Tossed it in a dumpster. Her story is utter crap and she deserves a lot worse than she got. I mean come on, she was so afraid of repercussions that she knowingly carried a stolen iPad to the hospital every day for six months.

She should not be allowed to practice clinical medicine and I would not trust her as a researcher either. Character is everything, and she has made hers known.
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Ok now this is a fair point. If I was scared of the administration I would have just tossed it or left it somewhere in the hospital to be found for the lost and found. No questions asked.
 
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LOl, that’s the craziest thing I have Heard in a while. What a nut, guess she figured he wont need it where he is going
 
pre med 2014 said:
Yes for you it makes sense and you can't see it any other way because you've never had an adverse experience with authority.
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no. because they're not going to crucify her for accidentally taking an ipad with the same cover as hers. it has absolutely 0 to do with authority. you realize the uproar that would cause ? " overworked medical student expelled for simply a case of mistaken identity" I don't care if she was hanging by an absolute thread, accidentally taking a visually similar ipad to yours has 0 repercussions on your status as a student.
 
What a donk. The moment she discovered it wasn't hers, then obviously she should have returned it. But if she was somehow convinced that no one would believe it was an honest mistake, then you GET RID OF THE EVIDENCE. She saw immoral and raised it stupid. Part of her sentencing should be required viewing of The Wire to clear these things up.
 
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Also, I was alarmed to see that she had faced dismissal action prior to the theft for sexual harassment issues.

Medical schools don't motion to dismiss people for accusing someone of sexual harassment. They would dismiss them for FALSE allegations of sexual harassment.

She sounds like really bad news and I'm glad she won't be in medicine. This wasn't a bad mistake. How many people get in trouble with administration before getting outed on the media for even more antisocial behaviour?
 
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Mr. Mojo Risin said:
Toss it into the dumpster? Wow, that takes the cake. Ever heard of CCTV? If she had been caught doing that, good luck trying to explain that.
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It doesn't matter because it's an action that would fit her admittedly stupid story of "fearing retribution from UCLA authorities." Destroying the ipad so that it is untraceable would mean there would be much weaker evidence to accuse her of theft. Instead she carried around the ipad like it was her own which really hammers nails into the coffin.
 
You all make a very good point. She easily could have ditched it or left it somewhere at the hospital. I agree it was a stupid decision, I guess I'm just not entirely convinced it was a pre-meditated act from the start.
 
liquidshadow22 said:
You all make a very good point. She easily could have ditched it or left it somewhere at the hospital. I agree it was a stupid decision, I guess I'm just not entirely convinced it was a pre-meditated act from the start.
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True. My guess is that it was a crime of opportunity. Whether that opportunity occurred when she saw a deceased patient's ipad at the hospital or after she got home when she discovered the ipad wasn't hers, I don't know. But either way, there was a point in time where she knowingly took and kept something that didn't belong to her. I would be much more inclined to give her sympathy and understanding if she stood up and admitted her wrongdoing and didn't concoct some crap story about fearing administrative consequences. If she said something like, "I saw the ipad sitting there and thought nobody was going to claim it, so I made a terrible mistake and took it for myself. It was wrong and a terrible lapse in judgement and something I will always regret, but I admit what I did and will accept whatever punishment comes my way. I make no excuses and hope that one day the people I hurt can find it in their heart to forgive me." If that was her attitude, I would be much more comfortable giving her another chance. She could use the publicity and time away from school to start a non-profit designed to provide tablets for terminally ill patients so they too can record their thoughts and feelings for their loved ones after they're gone. That kind of attitude is what an honor council would want to see before reinstating someone who had done what she did.

As it is, she's clever and she's simply trying to shift the discussion to the culture of medical training when the issue is really a concept that's taught in kindergarten: don't take what isn't yours. Ever.
 
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colbgw02 said:
What a donk. The moment she discovered it wasn't hers, then obviously she should have returned it. But if she was somehow convinced that no one would believe it was an honest mistake, then you GET RID OF THE EVIDENCE. She saw immoral and raised it stupid. Part of her sentencing should be required viewing of The Wire to clear these things up.
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I feel like The Wire should be required viewing in high school
 
"I would never intentionally steal from a dying cancer patient and I am very sorry that it happened."
"I thought I might have accidentally took it from another doctor or employee at the hospital but I had absolutely no idea it belonged to a patient until police confronted me about a missing tablet later," wrote Nguyen.

I like how she specified “dying cancer patient” as though it was 100% okay to appropriate the property of a fellow student or employee, but stealing from a dying patient would have been crossing the line.
 
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She wouldn't even have had to destroy it or take it to to the hospital. She could have left it in some random public restroom (no cameras if she was actually worried about that). She is clearly lying.
 
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Never underestimate the power of a good lawyer. Don't you see celebs avoiding jail when they violate probation, DUI, etc.
 
beluga_whale said:
Also, I was alarmed to see that she had faced dismissal action prior to the theft for sexual harassment issues.

Medical schools don't motion to dismiss people for accusing someone of sexual harassment. They would dismiss them for FALSE allegations of sexual harassment.

She sounds like really bad news and I'm glad she won't be in medicine. This wasn't a bad mistake. How many people get in trouble with administration before getting outed on the media for even more antisocial behaviour?
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It's commentary like this that made me want to take her side. You're not making any argument for intentional theft of the iPad, only making personal attacks on her reputation about a past incident you have no knowledge about and basically just being a bully.

But I am shifting my opinion on this as her story sounds plausible however she is not acting in a way that fits her claims. If a student were scared of the administration the last thing you would do is rename the iPad under your name. I hate to think someone would throw away a career for an iPad but it just doesn't make sense.
 
If true this is disgusting...although my Spidey-sense is giving me a strong whiff of media exaggeration, senzationalism and selective release of pertinent information. Why was her identity made public in such a fashion? Her disciplinary hearing should have been confidential to say the least due to the defamatory nature of the claims. Idk it's all kind of fishy.
 
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I didn't read the whole thread. But I truly wish, from the bottom of my heart, that there is a mistake and she did not intend to steal the iPad. I also wish that no one in the medical profession would do such a thing.
 
ari202 said:
I didn't read the whole thread. But I truly wish, from the bottom of my heart, that there is a mistake and she did not intend to steal the iPad. I also wish that no one in the medical profession would do such a thing.
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Just go to the first post and read the article. Even better, I did the work for you and brought the link for the article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...stion-stealing-iPad-dying-cancer-patient.html . There: she did ti

Priapism4tooLong said:
How does this thread have so many posts? Stealing is bad thread over.
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Exactly my thoughts
 
That image looks like a screenshot from a morning soap opera.

To the people who think med students can do no wrong, even when stealing: Do you have an iPad or iPhone? If so, please activate iCloud, and then attempt to rename the device or wipe it. Once you do, you'll see the following is clearly a blatant lie, and this scholarship-receiving med student must shatter your beliefs. There is no way she could say, "I thought I might have accidentally took it from another doctor or employee at the hospital but I had absolutely no idea it belonged to a patient until police confronted me about a missing tablet later," honestly. 1. Why are you changing the name of the device; 2. How illiterate can a med student be to not see the name?

She acknowledged the medical school had previously moved to dismiss her, before relenting. She contends the dismissal attempt was related to her making an accusation of sexual harassment, which was not upheld.
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She is truly a disgusting person, making things worse for those who already have it bad.
 
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pre med 2014 said:
It's commentary like this that made me want to take her side. You're not making any argument for intentional theft of the iPad, only making personal attacks on her reputation about a past incident you have no knowledge about and basically just being a bully.
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First, the fact that her sexual harrassment dismissal issuse is in the past doesn't make it irrelevant to the discussion in this thread about whether or not she deserves a lighter punishment. Nor is it irrelevant to the idea that the theft was unintentional, as you are claiming. It highlights a pattern of bad behaviour. I'm making the assumption that medical schools are fair and do not motion to dismiss students for minor infractions. Perhaps that is naive, but I give UCLA the benefit of the doubt, not a student who had two problems - one involving theft and another involving a sexual harrassment accusation that fell flat. So showing that pattern isn't needless character assassination or bullying, it's demonstrating with information we all have access to that this is probably NOT a mistake.

I'm all for redemption of honest mistakes and against bullying.
 
I wonder if she gets a rush just from fooling people? Maybe she didn't do it for the iPad but for like some high she gets when people come to believe her story and sympathize with her?
 
beluga_whale said:

First, the fact that her sexual harrassment dismissal issuse is in the past doesn't make it irrelevant to the discussion in this thread about whether or not she deserves a lighter punishment. Nor is it irrelevant to the idea that the theft was unintentional, as you are claiming. It highlights a pattern of bad behaviour. I'm making the assumption that medical schools are fair and do not motion to dismiss students for minor infractions. Perhaps that is naive, but I give UCLA the benefit of the doubt, not a student who had two problems - one involving theft and another involving a sexual harrassment accusation that fell flat. So showing that pattern isn't needless character assassination or bullying, it's demonstrating with information we all have access to that this is probably NOT a mistake.

I'm all for redemption of honest mistakes and against bullying.
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Trust me it is bullying. Similar to how the recent cases of police shooting unarmed black men where the media will bring up the black victims past of marijuana use to demonize the person. Sure it's illegal but who cares and what does it have to do with whether it was in self defense or not?

Remember when the media just started destroying Travon Martins character by bringing up his past marijuana use? Those fools probably have their own kids his age experimenting with the grass and the *****s are none the wiser

If you have to start going into a persons past to defame character it means you're either a bully or have no evidence to go on to make your case so you have to resort to dirty tricks
 
pre med 2014 said:
Trust me it is bullying. Similar to how the recent cases of police shooting unarmed black men where the media will bring up the black victims past of marijuana use to demonize the person. Sure it's illegal but who cares and what does it have to do with whether it was in self defense or not?

Remember when the media just started destroying Travon Martins character by bringing up his past marijuana use? Those fools probably have their own kids his age experimenting with the grass and the *****s are none the wiser

If you have to start going into a persons past to defame character it means you're either a bully or have no evidence to go on to make your case so you have to resort to dirty tricks
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Or perhaps you are an intelligent person who understands context is relevant when discussing the likelihood someone has done something bad.
 
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pre med 2014 said:
I'll compromise with you, if she had a history of theft it could be relevant.
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I'm not going to repeat something I can't verify, but there is an allegation made in one of those links that would seem relevant to what you just said. It was interesting to read, but anyone can comment on that site.
 
I think the first part of her story is probably true. She accidentally took the iPad home, realized it, and decided to keep it. Is that worth completely ruining her career over? I don't know. Obviously the punishment is far disproportionate to the crime, but of course character and integrity are very important to the practice of medicine.
 
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