Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 10, 1994 TAG: 9408100068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Doris Sheppard of Dublin received a flier in her home-delivery newspaper box July 25 that purported to be from six employees of Montgomery Regional Hospital.
The flier appeared to be written on hospital letterhead and said Dr. Gus Vlahos, a Dublin dentist, had AIDS.
The dentist has medical records that prove he does not have AIDS, and hospital officials have called the letterhead a forgery, said Robert Ziogas, Vlahos' lawyer.
Vlahos has never been a patient at Montgomery Regional Hospital.
Vlahos filed suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court last week, asking for $10 million in damages. It is not known who typed and circulated the fake memo.
Jimmy Turk, Sheppard's lawyer, said his client is shocked at the repercussions she faces for showing the document to a few people.
"She's completely floored," Turk said. "She says she would like to tell him she is sorry for inquiring or even showing it to anyone."
Sheppard may not be the one who originally typed the false memo, Ziogas said, but he believes she furthered its publication by copying it and posting it and must assume responsibility for her actions.
Vlahos has practiced for 13 years in Pulaski County and has lived there for 40 years.
"It's devastating to him to have his name smeared to that extent," Ziogas said.
The incident happened only a few weeks ago, but Vlahos and his lawyer moved quickly to file suit and produce documents that say the dentist does not have AIDS.
"This happened less than two weeks ago. He had some cancellations, people who never bothered to call him and tell him what's going on," Ziogas said.
Vlahos began to put matters together when a patient called him at home late one night to express concern.
The $10 million being asked for in the lawsuit reflects the magnitude of potential harm to Vlahos' practice and personal life had the information continued being disseminated, Ziogas said.
But Turk said the woman's reaction was not unreasonable.
"My feeling is she acted as any reasonable person would do," he said. "It looks like a legitimate document to the average person."
Sheppard had "no motive at all to want to destroy this dentist," but rather showed the startling document to a few people to see what they made of it, Turk said.
"She didn't say, 'I think this dentist has AIDS.' She said, `What do you guys think about this?'''
Turk said some of Sheppard's co-workers copied the memo Sheppard had found in her newspaper box. While technically she may have "published" the document by showing it to friends and allowing it to be copied, Turk said "it was not done with any ill feeling."
Turk contends that any adverse publicity created for the dentist because of the flier being passed around has been outweighed by the extensive publicity being generated by the lawsuit.
by CNB