An doctor working in the US state of Ohio has been fired after a series of anti-semitic tweets came to light including one in which she threatened to give Jewish people "the wrong meds."
Lara Kollab, 27, was employed as a first year resident at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic from July to September of 2018. She was fired when the hospital was made aware of her since-deleted social media posts, some dating back to 2011, by the Canary Mission, which describes itself as a site dedicated to exposing anti-semitism.
Kollab's tweets referred to Jews as dogs, compared Israel to Nazi Germany, and claimed the Holocaust had been "exaggerated."
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The Cleveland Clinic confirmed that Kollab's departure was related to her posts and released a statement saying that,"In no way do these beliefs reflect those of our organisation." The hospital also stressed that, as a resident, Kollab was under constant supervision when interacting with patients.
"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."
This latest incident is part of a larger and troubling pattern. In February the Anti-Defamation League released a report showing a 60% increase in anti-semitic incidents in 2017. There were 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents reported across the United States in 2017, including physical assaults, vandalism, and attacks on Jewish institutions.
The State Medical Board of Ohio has confirmed that Kollab's certificate to practice is valid only when she is actively enrolled in a part of a training program.
Kollab was a graduate of the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York. The school condemned her statements, tweeting, "Touro College is appalled by the anti-Semitic comments reportedly made by Lara Kollab, a graduate of the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. The mission of Touro College is to educate, perpetuate and enrich the historic Jewish tradition of tolerance and dignity."
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