The Nation - News from May 15, 1988

Cmdr. Donal M. Billig, former Bethesda Naval Medical Center heart surgeon, will be released from the Navy with an honorable discharge, and the service will not appeal a review court’s decision to overturn his 1986 conviction for the negligent death and involuntary manslaughter of three patients, Navy spokesmen said. Billig, 57, who was released last month after serving two years at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., had maintained his innocence throughout his two-month court-martial. He said in an interview that he has made no career plans yet, and added that he believed it was unlikely any hospital would grant him operating privileges or any company would provide malpractice insurance.