Alan Berkman
Encyclopedia
Alan Berkman was an American
physician
and activist in the Students for a Democratic Society
and Weather Underground who went to prison for his involvement in a number of robberies staged by the organizations and their offshoots. Released after eight years in prison for armed robbery and explosives possession, Dr. Berkman provided medical care to the homeless and founded Health GAP to help provide AIDS pharmaceuticals to some of the world's poorest nations.
and moved with his family to Middletown, Orange County, New York
. He was an Eagle Scout
who graduated as the salutatorian
of his high school class. He earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell University
, graduating as an honor student in 1967. Berkman received his medical training at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
, which he completed in 1971.
His politics and practice of medicine often overlapped, including his treatment of prisoners after the September 1971 Attica riots. He and his wife evaded the cordon established by the United States Marshals Service
during the Wounded Knee incident
in 1973.
and May 19th Communist Movement
had organized the October 20, 1981, Brinks robbery
in Nanuet, New York
, in which $1.6 million was taken from a Brink's
armored car. In a shootout shortly after the heist, two police officers were killed. A witness told a grand jury
that Berkman had treated one of the holdup group's members for a gunshot wound. Berkman refused to talk and spent almost a year in jail for civil contempt. Indicted as an accessory after the fact
, Berkman jumped bail and went underground. Berkman's lawyers claimed that he was the only U.S. doctor to be charged for treating a fugitive since Dr. Samuel Mudd
was charged and later convicted for his medical treatment of John Wilkes Booth
in 1865 after the Abraham Lincoln assassination
.
On the run, Berkman was involved in the gunpoint robbery of a Connecticut
supermarket that netted more than $20,000. Berkman and Elizabeth Ann Duke
were arrested on May 23, 1985, near Doylestown, Pennsylvania
. Their car was found to have a pistol and shotgun, as well as the key to a storage site that held 100 pounds of dynamite. During his years on the run in the 1980s, court papers alleged, he was involved with groups that had staged seven bombings of military and other government facilities, though charges related to the bombings were later dismissed. He was charged as part of the Resistance Conspiracy
and convicted for his participation in the supermarket robbery, the proceeds of which, prosecutors alleged, had been used to buy the dynamite. Berkman served eight years of a 10-year sentence.
drug addiction clinic for other parolees. In 1995, he returned to Columbia University
as a postdoctoral research fellow and worked at a clinic assisting homeless victims of AIDS with mental illness.
Upon his return to New York after performing research in South Africa
in the late 1990s, Berkman became one of the founders of Health GAP, an organization dedicated to expanding affordable access to AIDS medications such as antiretroviral drugs in the poorest parts of the world. Through such efforts as lobbying to allow foreign governments to impose compulsory license
s to allow local manufacture of medications without the imposition of U.S. trade tariffs, costs for a regimen of AIDS medications that had cost $15,000 annually in the late 1990s had been cut to $150 per year by the time of his death.
, Berkman died there, aged 63, from lymphoma
on June 5, 2009. He was survived by his wife, Dr. Barbara Zeller, as well as two daughters and a grandson.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and activist in the Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
and Weather Underground who went to prison for his involvement in a number of robberies staged by the organizations and their offshoots. Released after eight years in prison for armed robbery and explosives possession, Dr. Berkman provided medical care to the homeless and founded Health GAP to help provide AIDS pharmaceuticals to some of the world's poorest nations.
Biography
Berkman was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and moved with his family to Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census...
. He was an Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
who graduated as the salutatorian
Salutatorian
Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...
of his high school class. He earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, graduating as an honor student in 1967. Berkman received his medical training at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
, which he completed in 1971.
His politics and practice of medicine often overlapped, including his treatment of prisoners after the September 1971 Attica riots. He and his wife evaded the cordon established by the United States Marshals Service
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
during the Wounded Knee incident
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
in 1973.
Brinks robbery and life on the run
The Black Liberation ArmyBlack Liberation Army
The Black Liberation Army was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981...
and May 19th Communist Movement
May 19th Communist Movement
The May 19 Coalition , was a US-based, self-described revolutionary organization formed by members of the Weather Underground Organization...
had organized the October 20, 1981, Brinks robbery
Brinks robbery (1981)
The Brink's robbery of 1981 was an armed robbery committed on October 20, 1981, which was carried out by Black Liberation Army members; including Jeral Wayne Williams , Donald Weems , Samuel Smith, Nathaniel Burns , Cecilio "Chui" Ferguson, Samuel Brown ; several former members of the Weather...
in Nanuet, New York
Nanuet, New York
Nanuet is a hamlet , in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Pearl River; south of New City; east of Spring Valley and west of West Nyack. It is 19 miles north of Manhattan, and 2 miles north of the New Jersey border...
, in which $1.6 million was taken from a Brink's
The Brink's Company
The Brink's Company is a security and protection company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, United States. Its core business is Brink’s, Incorporated; it spun off its Brink’s Home Security operations into a separate company in 2008. In 2005, the company reported a total of 54,000 employees and...
armored car. In a shootout shortly after the heist, two police officers were killed. A witness told a grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
that Berkman had treated one of the holdup group's members for a gunshot wound. Berkman refused to talk and spent almost a year in jail for civil contempt. Indicted as an accessory after the fact
Accessory (legal term)
An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal...
, Berkman jumped bail and went underground. Berkman's lawyers claimed that he was the only U.S. doctor to be charged for treating a fugitive since Dr. Samuel Mudd
Samuel Mudd
Samuel Alexander Mudd I, M.D. was an American physician who was convicted and imprisoned for aiding and conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the 1865 assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson and released from prison in 1869...
was charged and later convicted for his medical treatment of John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
in 1865 after the Abraham Lincoln assassination
Abraham Lincoln assassination
The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
.
On the run, Berkman was involved in the gunpoint robbery of a Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
supermarket that netted more than $20,000. Berkman and Elizabeth Ann Duke
Elizabeth Ann Duke
Elizabeth Anna Duke is a former teacher and militant fugitive best known for her involvement with a number of political organizations, and subsequent flight from prosecution. She is currently wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.- Personal life :Duke was born in Beeville, Texas on...
were arrested on May 23, 1985, near Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Doylestown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 8,380. The borough is the county seat of Bucks County.- History :...
. Their car was found to have a pistol and shotgun, as well as the key to a storage site that held 100 pounds of dynamite. During his years on the run in the 1980s, court papers alleged, he was involved with groups that had staged seven bombings of military and other government facilities, though charges related to the bombings were later dismissed. He was charged as part of the Resistance Conspiracy
Resistance Conspiracy
The Resistance Conspiracy case was a Federal Judicial trial in the United States in which six people were charged with the 1983 U.S. Senate bombing and related bombings of Fort McNair and the Washington Navy Yard: Marilyn Jean Buck, Linda Sue Evans, Susan Rosenberg, Timothy Blunk, Alan Berkman,...
and convicted for his participation in the supermarket robbery, the proceeds of which, prosecutors alleged, had been used to buy the dynamite. Berkman served eight years of a 10-year sentence.
Post-prison
As a parolee after his release from prison, Berkman worked as a doctor at a South BronxSouth Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the New York City borough of The Bronx. The neighborhoods of Tremont, University Heights, Highbridge, Morrisania, Soundview, Hunts Point, and Castle Hill are sometimes considered part of the South Bronx....
drug addiction clinic for other parolees. In 1995, he returned to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
as a postdoctoral research fellow and worked at a clinic assisting homeless victims of AIDS with mental illness.
Upon his return to New York after performing research in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in the late 1990s, Berkman became one of the founders of Health GAP, an organization dedicated to expanding affordable access to AIDS medications such as antiretroviral drugs in the poorest parts of the world. Through such efforts as lobbying to allow foreign governments to impose compulsory license
Compulsory license
A compulsory license, also known as statutory license or mandatory collective management, provides that the owner of a patent or copyright licenses the use of their rights against payment either set by law or determined through some form of arbitration.- Copyright law :In a number of countries...
s to allow local manufacture of medications without the imposition of U.S. trade tariffs, costs for a regimen of AIDS medications that had cost $15,000 annually in the late 1990s had been cut to $150 per year by the time of his death.
Personal
A resident of ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Berkman died there, aged 63, from lymphoma
Lymphoma
Lymphoma is a cancer in the lymphatic cells of the immune system. Typically, lymphomas present as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage...
on June 5, 2009. He was survived by his wife, Dr. Barbara Zeller, as well as two daughters and a grandson.