Cleveland Clinic Gives Medical Resident The Boot After Anti-Semitic Tweets Resurface

Lara Kollab, a former medical resident at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic reportedly lost her job in 2018 due to the resurfacing of several anti-semitic tweets which went so far as to claim she would give Jewish patients the wrong medicine.

The questionable tweets occurred between 2011 and 2018.

Perhaps the most questionable was from 2012, when she wrote:

"I'll purposely give all the yahood the wrong meds."

According to Buzzfeed News, "'Yahood' is the Arabic word for Jewish people."

Buzzfeed News

Though all of Kollab's social media accounts have been deactivated (and the offensive tweets deleted), a series of screenshots immortalizing her comments were posted to Canary Mission, a website dedicated to "documents individuals and organizations that promote hatred of the USA, Israel, and Jews on North American college campuses."

The website itself also has a bit of a controversial history surrounding their accusations that many pro-Palestine groups are anti-semitic.

Kollab posted other tweets claiming the Jewish people were "stupid" and that the Jewish people exaggerated their victimhood surrounding events like the Holocaust.

The former medical resident also denounced Zionism and compared modern-day Israel to Nazi Germany, saying:

"Jewish settlers in palestine are the descendants of the nazis."

She also wrote:

"Tell me what makes Israel's 'we must remain a Jewish state' obsession any less disturbing than Hitler's obsession with a pure white nation."

When Buzzfeed attempted to reach Kollab for comment, they found she couldn't be reached.

Eileen Sheil, spokesperson for the Cleveland Clinic, said the resident was quickly placed on leave as soon as an individual brought her tweets to the hospital's attention:

"We looked into it right away."

Another spokesperson issued a lengthier statement on January 2:

"Her departure was related to those posts and she has not worked at Cleveland Clinic since September," said a statement from hospital staff issued on Jan. 2..."

"For first-year residents, multiple safeguards and direct supervision are required for patient care and prescribing medicine. In addition, there have been no reports of any patient harm related to her work during the time she was here."

"In no way do these beliefs reflect those of our organization. We fully embrace diversity, inclusion and a culture of safety and respect across our entire health system."

Kollab graduated from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York, the "largest private university in the US with Jewish roots." Founded in 1971, the university was originally built to further higher education in the Jewish community, but has since expanded to host people of many diverse backgrounds.

The college issued a statement expressing their disappointment with Kollab on Twitter.

State records indicate Kollab was issued a training license in July 2018 and that, since she has been removed form her position at the Cleveland Clinic, she is now unable to practice medicine elsewhere.

Officials commented:

"While the individual's training certificate may appear online in 'active' status, she does not have the authority to practice in Ohio because she is not part of an accredited program. Malicious acts and threats of patient harm go against the Medical Practices Act and are denounced by the board."

She should have studied the Hippocratic Oath a little more carefully.