Earl Winfrey Brian Jr. (1942 – November 2, 2020) was an American physician and businessman who served as Director of California's Department of Health Care Services, and then as Secretary of California's Agency for Health and Welfare under Governor

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. Following an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 1974, Brian headed several technology based firms during the 1970s and 80s. In 1991 however, Infotechnology, the

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

firm he headed, filed for bankruptcy. Brian was later charged with conspiring to cover up the firm's financial difficulties and sentenced to four years in prison.

Early career

Brian graduated from medical school at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

and served in the

Army Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of med ...

in Vietnam.

Political career in California

After leaving the service in 1970, he was appointed first as Director of California's Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), then Secretary of Health and Welfare. During his term as secretary, Brian succeeded in implementing a requirement for a $2 co-payment from

Medi-Cal The California Medical Assistance Program (Medi-Cal or MediCal) is the California implementation of the federal Medicaid program serving low-income individuals, including families, seniors, persons with disabilities, children in foster care, preg ...

recipients for each doctor's visit, but failed in an attempt to curtail medical benefits available under Medi-Cal when the state lost a suit brought by the

California Medical Association The California Medical Association (CMA) is a professional organization based in California that advocates on behalf of more than 50,000 physician members in legislative, legal, regulatory, economic, and social issues. The organization was found ...

. In 1974 Brian resigned his cabinet post and ran for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

seat held by Senator

Alan Cranston Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914 – December 31, 2000) was an American politician and journalist who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from California from 1969 to 1993, and as President of the Citizens for Global S ...

(D–CA), but lost the Republican primary.

Business and expansion

Brian then turned to business and in 1980 established his own company, Biotech Capital, a venture capital firm that invested in companies developing medical technology. Biotech later shifted its focus to news and information services, acquiring interest in the

Financial News Network The Financial News Network (FNN) was an American financial and business news television network launched on November 30, 1981. The network aimed to broadcast programming nationwide, five days a week, for seven hours a day on 13 stations in an ...

(FNN) and changing the name Biotech in 1987 to Infotechnology. In 1988, the company acquired

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI), one of the two major American news wire services at the time.

Conspiracy and fraud conviction

Infotechnology encountered financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy in 1991, as did FNN and UPI. In 1995, Brian was charged with conspiracy and fraud for inflating the value of FNN and UPI in an attempt to secure loans to shore up the companies. He was convicted of the conspiracy charges in 1996 and sentenced to four years in prison.

Death

Brian died on November 2, 2020, at the age of 78 in Easton, Maryland. He was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

.Dr. Earl Winfrey Brian Jr.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brian, Earl Winfrey 1942 births 2020 deaths American businesspeople convicted of crimes American people convicted of fraud Duke University School of Medicine alumni Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Silver Star Stanford University School of Medicine alumni Burials at Arlington National Cemetery