The 95 Theses. My letter to the Board of Governors of University of North Carolina contesting my dismissal.

I have written this blog on Sept 24, 2025, which is one day after the Monologue delivered by Jimmy Kimmel . Tough act to follow. The general themes are quite similar. Why my account is so important is not because of my wrongful firing. but because of the implications for everyone, everywhere. I intend to change the current status quo that if a health care worker reports serious misconduct, they will get fired.

I was fired because I reported up the chain of Academic authority at UNC the potential for a disturbed radiologist faculty member Al Parker to murder all our 28 Radiology residents, and any bystanders, and that another faculty member, interventional Radiologist Paul Jacques was allowed to operate drunk for atleast 2 decades, 1988 - 2008. This dismissal was for clearly phony, fraudulent reasons, which was achieved with orchestration by a number of adjudicating bodies, all with strong allegiance to UNC, including terminally by UNC judges in the Court of Appeals and North Carolina Supreme Court, all founded on extreme partisanship. Think of North Korea, but right here at home in North Carolina. Extreme partisanship essentially means that the truth no longer matters, is irrelevant, the only thing that is important is allegiance to the tribe.

Similar to what Jimmy was saying about his circumstance, this should not be thought of as about me, although in my account what I was reporting was more immediately deadly. Another difference is that most of the deceivers were Democrats, so maybe one small positive: Democrats and Republicans working together. The universality is what is important, is that the acceptance that a corrupt group of University administrators can succeed in an obvious corrupt retaliation and cover-up, creates not only a chill throughout the home university that no further faculty should speak up; about misconduct, but also gives license to all other centers everywhere :that cover up, deception and retaliation worked at UNC as a precedent, so it can work at any other institution as well. It has succeeded at UNC without opposition or repercussion.

I have described in a blog the recent case of the Boston Butcher. A circumstance in a Boston university, where an interventional radiologist, who was incompetent (I am uncertain the reasons) and had a very high complication rate... read: a high number of deaths from procedures that should not have had that outcome, hence Butcher. The female interventional radiologist who reported to administration that this was ongoing, experienced the result that she was fired. And then a couple of years later the Butcher was working in the Bahamas. She appealed the decision of her dismissal, and a judge again dismissed the case. Here is a reconstruction of the events: an apostate (my term Misconduct Reporter) reported gross misconduct by a colleague physician to senior administration. The outcome is that she gets fired, then quietly a couple of years later the perpetrator gets shuffled off elsewhere. One has to ask how often does this occur? I have studied this subject, and to remind the reader I have been rated in the top 0.05% of scholars in all subjects for my career (by Scholar GPS), so I am very familiar with how to research. This obfuscation and malicious retaliation is the standard practice. If someone reports gross misconduct, even if it had resulted in patient death, because there is no precedent that retaliation of this type has any negative outcome, only positive (in a corrupt sense of positive). Why show accountability if there is no benefit, only potential negative financial downside? Retaliate and cover-up.

Actually my message is no different than what we have heard on TV from Harvard professors, why it is important that funding is preserved for Harvard? They are doing critical work on cancer treatment, that removing funding will impede. So yes, even I, as a university professor for many years have historically felt that there is a Harvard arrogance and entitlement of "exceptionalism", which is annoying to professors at lesser mortal institutions. I have always considered that a person/ scientist/ physician is exceptional if they are exceptional. No other reason, just that simple. But the important issue is they are doing critical research for everyone everywhere, so it must not be impeded. Just that simple.

So yes, who cares about me? (except maybe me, and perhaps a few family members, and a couple of friends). Who cares about removing the most published authority on Abdominal imaging and body MRI of anyone in the world from UNC? Yes a couple of generations of Radiology trainees at UNC experience that loss as a deficiency in what they could have learned, but do they recognise or are aware of that absence... probably not., Certainly no one in the public in North Carolina would be aware of that, or the benefit of having the most expert radiologist in the world look at their studies (not even radiologists want to recognise that). They would not have been aware that it had been happening and now it is gone. Maybe a few trainees would have some inkling of my stature and how it benefits them in their training and for the rest of their career. But even, who cares about just them.

This is why you should care. Medical Error is the 4th most common cause of death in the USA. One major component of medical error is that incompetent, or dangerous, or drunk, or drug-impaired (or the combination of all or some of these negative qualities) physicians are allowed to practice. Only occasionally are they found out and discharged, even then often without public notification of their incompetence so they can go elsewhere and harm other people. Creating the precedent that even the most accomplished faculty can be fired (and even on obviously weak and fraudulent charges) then any one can be fired. So if you see an incompetent colleague, who has been allowed to work incompetently by administration, then you better shut your mouth or you will be fired yourself. So people keep their mouths shut. A large component of why Medical Error is such a common cause of patient death is that dangerous physicians are allowed to practice, because other health care workers are afraid to speak for risk of being fired.

How many physicians and staff would have been aware of Al Parker and Jacques and their misconducts, probably at a minimum of 150 individuals, with an overlap between those groups. No one said anything, and all this went on for decades, because the chairman was aware of it. If they spoke up they were concerned they would get fired, and they were right. I was aware, and spoke up in the Department to the chairman about the incompetence of Al Parker, and that he coerced young female doctors to take his concealed gun course in the basement of his home. But when I was confronted with the fact that things had now turned deadly, and since the chairman ignored complaints about Al for well over a decade I had to go above his head.. I basically went through all levels of reporting within the university, and then within the judicial system before mentioning this publicly, what had gone on. Also I was not a 17 yr old reporting that another classmate was posting on-line disturbing things, a classmate they may have known for 3 months. See something, say something, do something. I was and am the world authority on the broad subject of Safety in Radiology who studied Al Parker's aberrant behavior for 23 years, and recognized when it took a dark turn Then did I see something, say something, do something. But here is the cunning trick of the corrupt,, you can only see something, say something, do something if it only implicates a lower level administrator (a comparison is a lieutenant in a Mob family), but if all levels of the Mob and the Capo are involved in the cover-up, then to avoid being fired: you don't see something, don't say something, don't do something, or else. I only found out about Jacques after Al Parker's risk of mass-murdering was brought to my attention by the Radiology Residency Program Director Bob DIxon, MD, and after that Bob iinformed me about Paul Jacques. Senior administration knew all about the activities of both miscreants.

Al Parker recently died, that was what I was waiting for before speaking up. Primarily my partner, was deathly scared that Al would shoot and kill her if he found out that we 'ratted him out'. But he is dead, the mass-murdered-in-waiting. But maybe in-waiting is not correct, I do not think any law force has checked out his house or coastal property. I am not suggesting there is a reason to..

I want to break the pattern of the consistent success that senior administration in health care systems everywhere have experienced in covering up misconduct, and retaliating against Misconduct Reporters. I know who the worst of the scoundrels are in North Carolina, this includes assistant-attorney generals and UNC judges. All individuals who have participated in the cover-up and the deception of why I was fired. should be held to account, and this serve as the precedent. So this does not happen in Detroit, or Iowa City, or Seattle or Memphis, or anywhere in the USA. All administrators in all universities and other medical centers must be fully aware, now finally, that they will be held to account if they have allowed gross misconduct to occur and if they have cover-it up or punished Misconduct Reporters. must be held to account, and I am fully prepared to act as an medical expert. There must be a precedent that Misconduct Reporters succeed in bringing to justice for the victims, but also punitive justice for not only the ground floor miscreants, but all the layers of senior administration accomplices to the actions by covering up and retaliating. THis is a nation-wide and world-wide epidemic of a major cause for why there is such a high death rate from medical misconduct. Health care workers are afraid to speak up because they are fearful of retaliation and being fired.

I was and remain well within the top 20 of scholarship accomplished Radiologists in the world for all time, and the most accomplished in a number of areas including broad safety in Radiology. UNC administrators and their accomplices in the legal system were successful in getting me fired, because I dared to speak up and defend patients who had been injured, and possibly killed by Jacques, and the threat of Al Parker. Now I am a disgraced former professor (think of the character in the movie Back to the Future), but actually due to my abilities of protecting patients, now probably the most well known Radiologist world-wide due to my work taking care of individuals made sich by Gadolinium contrast). This doesn't say much though, because there is no name recognition of radiologists, accept by some other radiologists. So I plan to fight for justice for victims of Paul Jacques, but in a broader sense to fight for justice for all victims everywhere. In a much earlier blog I had described the Faculty Hearing Committee from Ohio State, where the first gaggle evaluated what Larry Nassar was doing and ruled that it was medically justified. I would be keen to act as a medical expert on behalf of those female gymnasts and see all of them imprisoned as accessories to the crimes of Larry Nassar, both after the fact and also the future, since he was then allowed to commit more sexual crimes for an additional two years, Faculty Hearing Committees are low hanging fruit of a group of individuals who have no accountability and serve as sycophants and liars for the university, so they hope to advance their career. The head of the committee in my case did get a promotion, probably well deserved, it takes considerable desire for advancement to fire on obviously phony charges, perhaps among the top 10, 20 at most, scholarship accomplished faculty in all 9 or so UNC campuses. A job well done.

I am presently the protector of all victims of Gadolinium toxicity world-wide. This take actually a lot of courage, because this is standing up in opposition to the companies and radiologists, the entire medico-corporate enterprise. Unfortunately to the present new sufferers remain still overlooked, so the battle continues. So I am already positioned to take up organized crime in Medicine for other causes. Extremely few doctors have my level of world expertise{ as I am the world expert in Abdominal Imaging, abdominal MRI, broad safety in Radiology and Gadolinium toxicity, so the next step is actually to be the protector of Patients against Medical Misconduct. Not all Medicine, just corrupt and injurious Medicine.

It is very likely that just these 4 postings: my Crossing the Rubicon letter to Chancellor Folt of UNC Chapel Hill, the Tugging the Forelocks letter of the Provost, the malicious paragon of falsehoods Poison Pen dismissal letter from the Provost. And this 4th my 95 these (an homage to Martin Luther) letter to the Board of Governors.. The first intention is to correct the criminally deceitful narrative of my dismissal, from which of several lies I am not sure, I think the lie is I asked for money from the university for legal expenses which were for personal reasons. Now I have in writing of the actual documents:

1. I was dismissed because I spoke up against perpetrators of horrific misconducts and of administrators that covered it up. That is exactly what I did. Gadolinium toxicity sufferers may ask, why Dr Semelka did you speak up at UNC so now they portray you as dishonest. I spoke up then about misconduct, just as I am speaking up now to defend you.

2. My university career and reputation they destroyed because it appears that if one of the most accomplished physicians in the world is fired, it must be for truly egregious crimes, running a meth lab in my office or something of that severity. Otherwise why would someone of my international nearly unmatched stature be fired. I was looking at Dean positions at the time I was fired, these salary in the range of 4-8 million dollars, so the reputation damage they caused me had real and substantial financial losses to me.

3. It was a 8 year stressful effort in my life this whole ugly situation and cost me $400, 000, which I cannot even write -off. So 2 years of an entire salary as I was approaching retirement.

WHat would you do if this happened to you? Speak up to protect the lives of people training under you and to seek restitution for individuals operated on by a drunk physician, and the upshot is you are fired, disgraced and have lost an actual amount of $3.2 in salary, a real loss of $400,000 in legal costs, and a potential loss of $80 million........ what would you want done to liars and criminals who inflicted all this damage on you for deceitful, self-protecting purposes? ... Yes that is what I would want done myself.

4. Actually the worst of all of it, is the damage that sycophantic monsters did to my partner K, who they psychologically tortured and forced her to quit UNC. She was the best chest radiologist at UNC, and among the best in the world, and they rendered her so deflated she has not been able to work again. This is the one crime I find completely unforgivable. I have been able to survive the damage done me,, having made myself the most famous radiologist in the world on the basis of all the excellent clinical and scientific work on Gadolinium safety I have done in the last 8 years. Before I was just the most published peer-reviewed and text book author on the positive value of Gadolinium contrast in the world, and now I have added the most accomplished peer-reviewed author on Gadolinium toxicity. Before maybe only 10 radiologists knew my accomplishments in MRI, now I have atleast 300 patients who correctly tell me that I have saved their lives, and I have saved the lives of thousands more following my guidance around the world. People come from around the world to be treated by me, the world expert. So I am ok, not making any money, but I am fine. I am making an enormous change for the better in the world. Still presently with foolish opposition to my workings, but this will change. She however was an innocent victim. She took no part in my crime of trying to protect doctors from being shot and killed, and no part in trying to get other victims compensated. The very first step I expect UNC to take is to rectify the mistreatment of her, even though it is late and will be too little.

Richard Semelka, MD, disgraced former tenured Full Professor

And here finally is the 95 theses:

August 14 BoG.docx.pdf

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