Dr. David Stockman Lawsuits, Debts, and Investigations

Dr. David L. Stockman, a Saginaw Township pathologist, is the subject of a sprawling set of lawsuits that includes a $551,800 defamation arbitration award, multiple six-figure default judgments, unpaid-wage suits from physicians in three states, an IRS levy for back taxes, five dismissed bankruptcy filings, and an open state licensing investigation over autopsy reports he withheld from grieving families in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The $551,800 Defamation Award to Dr. Russell Bush

The largest judgment against Stockman grew out of a Saginaw County medical examiner contract. In October 2019, the county signed a 10-year agreement with Stockman’s Michigan Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine (MIFSM). The contract was built around Dr. Russell Bush, the county’s chief medical examiner since 2014, and it barred MIFSM from removing him without written consent.¹

MIFSM fired Bush in November 2021 anyway, first telling the county he had “stepped down” before acknowledging the termination. At a December 2, 2021 board meeting, Commissioner Christopher Boyd challenged Stockman’s qualifications, and Stockman conceded he was certified as a pathologist but not as a forensic pathologist. The board voted unanimously to scrap the MIFSM contract.²

Bush sued Stockman and MIFSM for defamation and intentional interference. The parties moved to private binding arbitration in November 2024, and in February 2025 arbitrator Kenneth W. Schmidt awarded Bush $551,800, finding that Stockman had acted with “intent and malice.”³ Bush also filed a complaint with the Michigan Board of Medicine.⁴

Default Judgments Piling Up

Stockman and his entities have repeatedly failed to answer lawsuits, and courts have entered default judgments as a result.

TIAA — $141,800. The federal savings bank sued Stockman and Specialized Pathology Partners (SPP) in February 2023 over unpaid leases on ultrasound and radiology equipment. Neither responded. In August 2023, Judge M. Randall Jurrens ordered SPP to pay $122,292.42, Stockman personally to pay $12,610.86, and both to pay $6,792.82 in fees and costs. A bench warrant issued for Stockman’s arrest in March 2024 after he skipped a debtor’s exam, and a second warrant followed in March 2025 after another no-show.⁵⁶

Wildfire Credit Union — $131,626.18. The credit union sued Stockman, Magdalena Perez, and Great Lakes Bay Staffing Inc. in April 2024 over an overdrawn account. Checks from Michigan Health Clinics (MHC) had been deposited and funds moved to payroll, but several checks bounced. No one answered the suit, and Judge Jurrens entered a default judgment on August 1, 2024.⁷

Dr. Donald Higgs — approximately $55,000. Forensic pathologist Donald Higgs obtained a default judgment for unpaid wages after paychecks from Stockman bounced. Higgs filed a police report, and the Michigan Attorney General referred the matter to the Tuscola County Prosecutor’s Office in September 2024. As of mid-2025, no criminal charges had been filed.⁸

North Star Scientific Solutions — $101,441.22. A federal judge in Colorado entered a default judgment in May 2025 against Michigan Health Clinics in a breach-of-contract case filed by the Colorado company in February 2024.⁴

Physicians Suing Over Unpaid Wages

Three doctors hired by Stockman or his entities have sued to collect wages they say were never paid.

Endocrinologist Dr. Elizabeth Morrison sued Stockman and MHC in federal court in July 2023, alleging she was owed $14,564.58 for her final month and raising concerns about fraudulent billing at the clinic. The parties settled in October 2023 for $21,846.87 with a personal guarantee from Stockman. He never paid. Morrison’s attorney filed an enforcement suit in Saginaw County Circuit Court in July 2024.⁹

Dr. Robert Odze, a Harvard Medical School pathology professor, sued Stockman and MHC in Massachusetts Superior Court in February 2023. He said he had been hired at $4,000 per day in February 2022, worked five days, was paid for four, and was then strung along. His counts included failure to pay wages, breach of contract, fraud, fraudulent inducement, and violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.¹⁰

Washington, D.C. dermatologist Dr. Kishore L. Jayakumar sued in federal court in June 2024. He alleged Stockman hired him in late November 2023 for virtual dermatology work, that he earned $142,369.20 in wages through June 2024, and that he received only $10,500. He sought triple damages of $576,185.¹¹

Five Bankruptcy Filings, All Dismissed

Rather than pay the Bush judgment, Stockman filed a string of bankruptcies. On April 4, 2025, he filed Chapter 11 for MIFSM, triggering an automatic stay. Because corporations cannot file without an attorney and Stockman filed the petition himself, a judge ordered him to justify the filing or hire counsel.¹²

On May 5, 2025, he filed personal Chapter 11 to extend the stay to himself. The clerk flagged the petition as missing his signature, Social Security number, cover page, and creditor list.³ U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Daniel S. Opperman dismissed the individual filing on May 29, 2025.⁴ Earlier, on March 28, 2025, Stockman had filed Chapter 7 for SPP in South Carolina and skipped a debtor’s exam in Saginaw the same day. The Saginaw court ruled the corporate stay did not protect him personally.¹³ In all, Stockman has filed five bankruptcies in recent years. Every one has been dismissed.

IRS Levy for Back Taxes

In May 2025, the IRS levied Stockman for $74,204.14 in back taxes dating to 2021. Saginaw County, which still owed a small payment to Stockman and MIFSM, redirected $800 directly to the IRS after being notified of the levy on May 27, 2025.⁴

Autopsy Reports Withheld From Upper Peninsula Families

Even as the civil judgments accumulated, MIFSM continued serving as medical examiner for several Upper Peninsula counties. That arrangement collapsed in early 2025. Marquette County terminated its contract on April 11, 2025, after more than 18 months of problems. Board Chairman Joseph Derocha called Stockman’s conduct “unprofessional.”¹⁴

The central problem: Stockman was holding 22 completed autopsy and toxicology reports and refusing to release them or file the corresponding electronic death certificates. Without those documents, families could not collect life insurance or settle estates. Some had been waiting since November 2024. Stockman told county civil counsel the work was finished but never handed it over.¹⁵

In May 2025, Derocha and Marquette County Undersheriff Lowell Larson drove six hours to Saginaw to recover the records in person. Alger County had already terminated its own contract, and Schoolcraft and Ontonagon counties were also affected.¹⁴ By August 2025, Marquette County had recovered all of its outstanding documents.¹⁶

Other counties fared worse. As of August 2025, three autopsy reports from Schoolcraft County and four from Alger County were still outstanding. Eric and Kate Miller of Schoolcraft County had been waiting 10 months for the autopsy report on their daughter, Grace. Stockman called the family on June 16, 2025 and promised to email the report within an hour. It never arrived.¹⁷

State Licensing Investigation

The withheld reports prompted Schoolcraft County Prosecutor Tim Noble to file a complaint with the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), and Marquette County officials urged LARA to revoke Stockman’s medical license. At a May 2025 board meeting, Derocha told the county’s civil counsel: “Go after his license with LARA. We simply can’t allow this to happen and we can’t take it laying down.”¹⁵

As of August 2025, LARA confirmed an active investigation into Stockman and MIFSM, with an investigator assigned and a subpoena for the remaining death reports described as “nearly due.” Potential penalties range from a formal reprimand or fine to revocation. His medical and prescribing licenses are set to expire on September 8, 2026.¹⁷⁴

Where Things Stand

Marquette County dropped plans for further legal action after recovering its records, but the LARA investigation remains open.¹⁶ The criminal referral over Higgs’s bounced paychecks is still under review by the Tuscola County Prosecutor’s Office. Specialized Pathology Partners was dissolved in May 2024.³ The default judgments against Stockman and his entities remain uncollected, the bench warrants from the TIAA case have not been resolved, and families in Schoolcraft and Alger counties are still waiting for reports Stockman has promised but not delivered.

1
Mid-Michigan Now. Saginaw County Involved in Contract Dispute With Medical Examination Contractor
2
MLive. Saginaw County Board Scraps Contract With Medical Examination Company in Tense Meeting
3
MLive. Saginaw Township Doctor Files Last-Minute Bankruptcy Again to Avoid $551K Judgment
4
MLive. IRS Seeks $74,204 in Back Taxes From Controversial Saginaw Doctor
5
MLive. Warrant for Saginaw Doctor’s Arrest Issued Amid Deluge of Lawsuits
6
Michigan Courts. Bush v. MIFSM, Case No. 21-046093-CB
7
MLive. Judge Orders Saginaw Township Doctor to Pay $131K for Not Answering Lawsuit
8
MLive. Saginaw Doctor Files Bankruptcy for Entity That Handled Autopsies, Delaying $551K Defamation Judgment
9
MLive. Oregon Physician Sues Saginaw Township Doctor Again in Hopes of Getting $21K She’s Owed
10
MLive. Saginaw Township Doctor’s Refusal to Follow Court Orders Leads Judge to Dismiss Suit
11
MLive. D.C. Doctor Claims Controversial Saginaw Doc Failed to Pay Him $142K in Wages
12
Becker’s ASC Review. Michigan Physician Files for Bankruptcy, Delaying $551K Defamation Judgment
13
MLive. Controversial Saginaw Doctor Who Owes Bank $141K Skips Court to File Bankruptcy in South Carolina
14
Upper Michigan’s Source. Marquette County Board Chair, Undersheriff Heading to Saginaw to Recover Former Medical Examiner Records
15
MLive. Michigan Doctor Under Fire: 22 Autopsy Reports Withheld From U.P. Families
16
Upper Michigan’s Source. All Documents Recovered, Recorded From Former Marquette County Medical Examiner
17
MyUPNow. Daughter’s Autopsy Report Still Absent as U.P. County Washes Hands of Medical Examiner