Dr. Michael Brown was taken off life support yesterday, and died in a Florida hospital. Dr. Brown had been in a coma for two weeks, apparently as the result of a suicide attempt.
I wrote about Dr. Brown a while back, but I didn’t do a very good job of keeping on top of the story. This is a shame, as it got even stranger after I wrote about it, and got really strange in the past month or so.
For those who don’t recall, Dr. Brown (no relation) was a Houston hand surgeon who built a chain of clinics. Then his wives accused him of domestic abuse and drug addiction and his behavior became increasingly erratic. Most recently, he was convicted of assaulting a flight attendant and sentenced to 30 days in prison. He also went into bankruptcy – apparently voluntary, but he engaged in a long series of disputes with the bankruptcy trustee. There are supposedly two suitcases full of cash missing from Brown’s assets, according to the current trustee.
One of the reasons I avoided writing about Dr. Brown was that the whole story is incredibly convoluted and bizarre. You would need an entire book to do justice to everything that went on. I hope someone (perhaps a HouChron or HouPress reporter) is working on that book right now; when it comes out, I’ll buy it.
It’s the classic story of the guy who had it all, but couldn’t control his personal demons. It wouldn’t make a good movie, because there’s really no redemptive arc. But as a true crime book, it should make good reading.