Tulsa Tribune
                               Jan 4, 1979
                                 Page 1A
                                Doctor No
                  All 'physician' lacked was a license
                              By STEVE WARD

Dashing young Dr. James Campbell had a standing offer with co-workers and
neighbors at his apartment complex: Call him if they needed a doctor.  They
called often.  He came to the rescue of a woman having a heart attack, gave
first aid to a girl with a bad cut on her forehead, treated an next door
neighbor's baby who had a cold and was planning to perform surgery on his
girlfriend.

Everyone liked Dr. Campbell.  He told them he was a man of the world - he
was working with the CIA, was a Vietnam veteran, a daredevil who once tried
to parachute off the world trade center in New York City and was licensed
to fly commercial jets.  The only thing wrong was that Dr. Campbell, who
practiced in Tulsa for four months, was not a doctor.

Campbell was described by his father as being a "schizophrenic" who has
tried to convince even his parents that he is a doctor, even though he
never has attended medical school, officers said.  Yet he functioned in a
Tulsa suburb as a doctor, although he apparently never performed surgery,
until last week.  Everyone who came in contact with him until recent weeks
was impressed.

Tulsa County Deputy Larry Early met Campbell a few months ago in a motel
near the Turner Turnpike gate in west Tulsa.  "He was a heck of a nice guy,
and I had no reason not to believe him," Early said.

Campbell was working as a night desk clerk in the motel, but told his
co-workers and bosses that in the daytime he was working to open a medical
practice at a Tulsa hospital.  An incident at the motel, like scores of
others, gave those who knew him reason not to doubt his word.  One night a
few months ago, a woman staying in the motel had a heart attack and
Campbell was summoned.  "He went to her room and stayed with her until the
ambulance arrived, and then rode to the emergency room, offering help along
the way, " Early said.  No one in the emergency room questioned his
presence.

His friends say the bearded young man often wore a doctor's white coat
complete with a "Dr. Campbell" nameplate, carrying a doctor's black bag and
wearing a stethoscope.  Campbell's girlfriend, who says Campbell had
scheduled her for a hysterectomy, became groggy from some of the drugs he
dispensed and began suspecting that something was not right about this
suave young man, Early said.   "She said she had never seen any medical
books in his apartment and could never contact him during the daytime where
he was supposed to be working at a hospital," Early said.Campbell had
prescribed a drug to his girlfriend for female problems, and she became
ill, Early said.  He said the drug is comparable in strength to penicillin.

Others he treated were also beginning to complain to Tulsa clinics about
the side effects from drugs given them by young Dr. Campbell.  One of the
others was a young woman who walked into an idle helicopter blade at Harvey
Young airport recently, cutting her forehead, Early said.  Campbell,
described as a good pilot and a licensed parachutist, was at the airport
that day and immediately gave her first aid and some drugs, officers said. 
She later suffered side effects similar to those suffered by Campbell's
girlfriend.

(See DOCTOR, page 4A)

THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S office was considering filing misdemeanor charges
against Campbell for dispensing prescription drugs without a license with
it was learned that the Oakland, NJ  native had mental problems, Early
said.  "We don't know what else he had been doing in Tulsa, but we assume
he was treating a lot of people we don't even know about," Early said. 
After Campbell's girlfriend contacted the sheriff's office, concerned about
the drugs he was dispensing and the discrepancies in his stories and
unusual habits, Early called relatives in Massachusetts and found that he
was not a doctor.  Without telling Campbell that he was being investigated,
Early quietly notified his family to come to Tulsa and take him home. 
Because of Campbell's mental state, no charges will be filed, Early said. 
The man's father took Campbell back to his home in New Jersey Friday,
authorities said.

Many of Campbell's stories about himself were true, investigators learned. 
Campbell left New Jersey, telling his parents he was planning to attend
Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa.  Eventually, he was hired by a
now-defunct Tahelquah parachuting firm as an instructor and exhibitionist.

He had credentials and documents attesting to more than 1,600 parachute
jumps.  He made a daredevil attempt in 1977 to jump 1350 feet from the top
of the World Trade Center.  New York City Port Authority police nabbed him
just as he was about to jump from the south tower and took him to jail. 
Campbell, who identified himself as an electronics salesman at the time,
told authorities  he didn't want publicity.  "I just wanted to do it for
myself," he is quoted as saying.

Campbell's grandfather is a successful doctor in New Jersey, officials
said, and the bag, drugs and medical instruments apparently were taken from
his grandfather's practice.

Many who came in contact with Campbell still find it had to believe that he
was a phony. 

HIS LANDLORD, Wayne Vines, who owns the Owasso apartment complex, "The
Vines," where Campbell lived, described him as a "fine, upstanding
individual"  "One time I cut my finger and he said I should have called him
at once," Vines said.  "He was a heck of a nice guy.  He talked very
intelligently and I understand he had told most of the other tenants they
could come see him if they ever needed medical attention," Vines said. 
Tenants in the apartment complex said Campbell told them that he was just
starting out as a doctor and set aside a room in his apartment for medical
examinations.  But no one ever saw the room.

Early said that Campbell's girlfriend was also becoming suspicious of his
bizarre stories about his exciting life.  Although he told her he was 25
(he is 21) he claimed to have be in the My Lai massacre for which he was
receiving protection from the CIA, and he claimed had been in the medical
service in the Army.  He told his girlfriend that the CIA was giving him
protection because he knew the inside story of the massacre.  His army
records later showed that he was a mechanic.  He also told her he went to
college when he was 13 and was extremely bright, to explain all of his
achievements at such a young age, Early said.