Legal Juice

Perhaps this doctor was absent when they discussed the "doctor/patient relationship" in medical school. If the evidence that led to his "summary suspension" holds up when there is a full-blown hearing, it's goodbye "Dr. Perry," and hello "Mr. Perry." As set forth in the "Order of Suspension" issued 2 days ago by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners:

Evidence was presented to the Board that [Dr. Larry E. Perry, while in the examination room with a female patient, exposed his penis and urged the patient to perform oral sex on him. The patient refused to do so initially, and then offered to do so if [Dr. Perry] would increase the amount of Xanax that he was prescribing for her. [Dr. Perry] agreed to increase the patient's Xanax dosage from twice a day to three times a day and the patient then performed oral sex on [Dr. Perry].

And if that's not enough ...

Evidence was also presented that [Dr. Perry], while in the examination room with another female patient, began kissing the patient and forced her to place her hand on his erect penis. [Dr. Perry] tried to make the patient touch his penis three times and the patient repeatedly jerked her hand away.

And if that's not enough ...

Evidence was further presented that [Dr. Perry], on at least four (4) occasions, would approach female patients in the examination room by rolling close to the patient on his stool, spreading his legs, and would then rub his genitals on the patient's leg.

Based on the evidence presented ...

...the Board hereby finds that the conduct of Larry E. Perry, M.D. is so severe that it imperatively requires emergency action in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare prior to the initiation of formal disciplinary charges.

So he was suspended, effective upon his receipt of the Board's Order, which you can view by clicking here.

So, what would you do for a $16,000 Rolex watch? According to the children of retired Manteca Police lieutenant Jerry Kubena, Dr. Cleveland Enmon [formerly] of St. Joseph's Medical Center in Stockton, California, let their father die so he could take his Rolex. To read more(a LOT) and to see photos and a video, click here for the story in The Record.

Not only did this doctor have sex with his patient ... he did so in his office, weekly, and at least one of those times ... her husband was in the waiting room! Per metro.co.uk:

A doctor 'nearly fell off the couch' when a patient told him her husband was in a surgery waiting room outside while they had sex, a disciplinary panel heard.

Dr Michael Rusling indulged in regular sex sessions with the grandmother, the General Medical Council heard. Known as Patient A, the grandmother enjoyed weekly liaisons with him in a seven-month affair at the Sydenham House Group Practice in Hull in 2006-07.

Dr Rusling, of Beverley in East Yorkshire, admits inappropriate conduct and an abuse of power but denies his fitness to practise is impaired. The hearing continues.

Dude. You really don't think your fitness to practice is impaired? One has to question the judgment of a doctor who doesn't question his judgment under these circumstances.

Timothy Paul Gatschet of Wichita, Kansas was not exactly a shining example of what a doctor should be. From The Hays Daily News:

[The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts] had taken away his license in 1993 for inappropriate conduct.

In 1996, he was convicted of three felony counts of attempted enticement of a child.

The board reinstated Gatschet's license in 1998, but limited his practice to geriatrics.

And finally ... ...

Gatschet ... was sentenced Monday in Ellis County court to three years and seven months in prison. He pleaded guilty in March to criminal use of an explosive device and attempted use of an explosive device.

And what about his physician's license, which appeared to be coated with teflon?

Gatschet gave [it] up in April rather than face disciplinary proceedings by the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts.

I was starting to wonder what a doctor has to do in Kansas to lose his license for good. Here's the source.

They must really need dermatologists in Edmonton. Either that or perhaps they make it a practice to coddle offending doctors. Dr. Paul Lubitz had sex with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR of his patients. Really, should this guy be practicing medicine? [No!] He is, after serving an 18-month suspension. Here's the source.

And check out this comment from a website with consumer comments on health care providers [it's the 3/20/08 entry]:

I am a former staff member of Dr.Lubitz. I was terminated, along with all the other staff, when he "Fell ill". NONE of us were given our vacation pay or severance and were told we would have to sue if we wanted it! I can also tell you that he wrote the reviews on this page on 6/7/07 - the first listed one, and 6/6/07 - the positive review! I saw him do it. He is not a nice man, and always treated his staff horribly. He only cares about himself!

Zoinks!

I think it's safe to say that virtually everyone has heard the expression "doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground." With that in mind, here's an excerpt below from a Florida disciplinary case against Dr. G.K. Dwarka Nath:

37. The pathology report for the "colonoscopy" biopsy found benign squamous mucosa ... The finding was inconsistent with tissue from the rectum or colon, but consistent with tissue from the vagina. It became clear that Respondent had scoped the vagina and not the rectum.

Incredibly, he didn't even know that the scope was inserted in the wrong place! Sadly, the disciplinary complaint also describes the case of another patient who did not receive the appropriate care, and died. And what of Dr. Nath? He was fined $10,000 and put on supervised probation! Here's a link to the Final Order with the above language. There's another action on the disciplinary board's website (search "Nath") indicating that he was put on probation on 2/23/09, but that Order has not been posted.

Maybe I've seen too many "Nip/Tuck" commercials recently, but wouldn't you think that the plastic surgeon who specialized in breast enhancement would be the one who left his spouse and was asking for a divorce? Such was not the case with former New Hampshire doctor James Kartell. As reported by The Eagle-Tribune:

Vajda, a North Andover resident, was dating Kartell's estranged wife, Dr. Susan Kamm. She had moved in with Vajda and asked Kartell for a divorce.

Kartell had walked into Holy Family Hospital in Methuen on Feb. 23, 1999, with a loaded .38-caliber revolver and extra ammunition. Vajda was visiting Kamm, who was hospitalized with pneumonia.

The two men fought over who should leave, during which time Kartell shot Vajda in the stomach and then execution style in the head.

Kartell was convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to 8 years in prison. He's out now and ...

He wants his license back! Really. He says he's innocent, claiming he acted in self-defense. But ...

... witnesses testified that the Andover doctor said, "Now, I'm going to get you" and shot Vajda close range.

Perhaps that's why his request to get his medical license back was rejected (he's appealing it). He's also still fighting his criminal conviction, after recently losing his third appeal. Time to find a new job, ya think? Click here to read more.

That's apparently the way Dr. Henry Kinch's mind works. Mrs. B and her husband, Mr. B, were his patients for many years. Oh, and Dr. Kinch prescribed anti-depressants to Mr. B without seeing him. I'm sure you know where this is going ...

Yes, you guessed it, Dr. Kinch (married) and Mrs. B (married 20 years, with kids) are in love and have been engaged in an affair. As reported by The Telegraph, when Mr. B confronted his wife, she said "that she was "maybe" having an affair with the doctor." Um, it's a "yes" or "no" question. Was Dr. Kinch any more forthcoming? Per Mr. B:

"He was very calm. He replied, basically, 'Me and your wife love each other. We can't help how we feel. I'm sorry but that's how we feel and we are going to live together'.

"I then said, 'How can you do this? You're breaking up my family, and my children, a 20 year marriage. You are my doctor, my wife's doctor and you will break up our marriage.'

'Do you remember how you felt when you first met your wife and fell in love?' I said, 'Yes. Of course.' He said 'That's what I have now. I can't help the way I feel.'

So, we have a doctor sneaking around committing adultery, with a patient, who is also an employee, and improperly prescribing drugs to her husband [also a patient] and everything is just peachy keen. Have you no shame sir? [rhetorical question, of course]. Dr. Kinch's dirty laundry is now being aired at a disciplinary hearing before the General Medical Counsel. Here's hoping they are harder on him than he is on himself. To read more, click here.

If you or I ever try to pull the shit that Tennessee doctor Robert E. Grindstaff admitted to doing, fuhgeddaboudit. While he was in the hospital, here's what went down, per The Kingsport Times-News:

[from August 3 through September 8] unlicensed personnel at Grindstaff’s Pinecrest Family Practice in Johnson City treated 115 patients by evaluating and questioning them about their needs and calling in refills for prescriptions without consulting a physician.

... during those dates If the patient required a Schedule II controlled substance, a member of Grindstaff’s staff took a note to Grindstaff to have him sign the prescription without his review of the patient’s records.

During the same time period, Grindstaff’s office billed patients for nursing visits despite the fact the doctor was not in the office and there are no nurses or staff members at the practice “with any formal training or experience in any medically related field.”

Really serious shit, right? Apparently not. Dr. Grindstaff did not even have his medical license suspended!

The board placed Grindstaff’s license on probationary status for two years, during which he must complete an educational seminar on prescribing controlled drugs, a comprehensive physician assessment, and a clinical education program.

The board further ordered Grindstaff to pay up to $1,000 of the cost of the health department’s prosecution of his case.

Excuse me, but la-di-fucking-da! This punishment was imposed notwithstanding that ...

According to the board, Grindstaff’s actions violated both state statutes and medical practice acts governing gross malpractice, unprofessional conduct, prescribing and dispensing drugs, and medical record keeping.

Please, tell me it's not just me. Absent some incredible mitigating factors, this guy should have had his license revoked.

I immediately thought of "Fight Club" when I read this story. As reported by Forbes.com:

For a time, Beverly Hills doctor Craig Alan Bittner turned the fat he removed from patients into biodiesel that fueled his Ford SUV and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator.

Quoting Fawn Leibowitz's "Animal House" friends, "Ewwwwww!" But is it legal?

Using fat to fuel cars might be environmentally friendly, but it's definitely illegal in California to use human medical waste to power vehicles, and Bittner is being investigated by the state's public health department.

To read more (a fair amount) click here. (One guess - What is the main ingredient in the soap in "Fight Club"?)

Continue reading "Doctor Used WHAT To Power His Car?" »

Surgery is scary enough. I'd like to know that my doctor is certain that operating while on crack would be a bad thing. It's not that California ear, nose and throat specialist Li Quang Nguyen actually operated while on crack, but check this out, as reported by the OC Register:

In July 2007, Dr. Nguyen was staying at the Howard Johnson Express in Huntington Beach. Police responded to a call that maids could not enter the locked room for cleaning. Police found Nguyen in a deep sleep. Police removed rock cocaine, a clear vial of liquid cocaine, a glass pipe and a lighter, the documents say.

Hard to say "what crack" in those circumstances, right?

Nguyen admitted to police that he had freebased cocaine the day before but said he was not "hooked," according to the documents. In April, he pleaded no contest to drug charges and was ordered to enter an 18-month treatment program.

Okay. Looking good, until the disciplinary hearing for his medical license...

... during his hearing, Nguyen said he knew nothing about the drugs and "went so far as to testify that he did not know if it would be dangerous to perform surgery under the influence of cocaine."

The board's disciplinary documents say, "He claimed he could not know if this would be dangerous since he had never tried it, but such an assertion made by a trained physician is simply preposterous and rather frightening."

What, what, what? Dr. Nguyen, who had a previous disciplinary action, had his license revoked. To read more, click here.

Perhaps this is the case with trauma doctor Martin Derusha, Jr. of Fort Worth, Texas. As to the doctoring, as reported in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, per Mr. Derusha,

"At this point in my career, I have no malpractice (claims), no problems at all in medicine."

Maybe in medicine, but ...

Derusha was arrested in 1998 for driving while intoxicated in Navarro County.

In 2003, he was arrested in Tarrant County for his second DWI, pleaded guilty and was fined $700 and sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to state documents.

Derusha was arrested again in 2006 for a DWI in Parker County.

The medical board again placed him on a 10-year probation. On Jan. 27, he was arrested in Tarrant County for a fourth DWI, according to board documents.

So what happened?

Derusha said in an interview he voluntarily gave up his license, though the matter was under appeal. "At this point I don’t have the money to argue with them," he said. "How many battles can you fight at one time?"

Here's the source.

It's often not pretty when relationships end. But what would these doctors do about the dog they both wanted? From the Bangkok Post:

A woman doctor shot at her boyfriend, who was also a doctor at the same hospital in Ubon Ratchathani province, after he refused to let her take care of their dog after the couple broke up.

Fortunately, the shots missed Supachoke Buddhacharoenlarp and hit his Jeep Cherokee instead. Dr Supachoke told police that he and Napawan Choppradit, 29, had been together for some time, but had decided to separate.

On Thursday, they met to settle matters, but could not agree on who would take care of the dog.

"Dr Napawan wanted to take the dog, but I refused. After arguing for a while, I got in the car, where the dog was being kept. She was angry and shot at us two times," he said. Dr Napawan has been charged with attempted murder.

Attempted murder! Sweet fancy Moses! I'm thinking this won't help her in canine custody court ...

An obstetrician named Roman Hasil has amassed quite a record, both on and off the job. As reported by The Courier:

Dr Hasil committed one of the drink-driving offences, on February 6 at McGraths Hill, just weeks before he was suspended by the NSW Medical Board after a damning report into several botched operations he had performed in New Zealand. He is under investigation in NSW over at least 10 serious patient complaints from his time at Lismore Base Hospital from 2001 to 2005.

There's plenty more:

Media reports in Slovakia last week also alleged that he drank on the job at two hospitals there as far back as the 1980s. [the 80s!]

Sally Hasil, who was married to Dr Hasil for 12 years, alleged that he was sacked from the Royal Hobart Hospital in March 1997 for not turning up to work because he was drunk but was rehired in November 1997.

Yesterday his ex-girlfriend, Sally Hock, who lived with him in Ebenezer, near Windsor, between January and June this year said that he frequently disappeared for days on drinking binges.

In May 2005 he was sacked from Melbourne's Angliss Hospital for drinking while on call.

In July he was sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond for obtaining money by deception after leaving without paying a $40.30 bill at a Chinese restaurant for a meal and a bottle of wine. He was also sentenced for assaulting a woman in Windsor the same day as the restaurant incident.

He had already been sentenced to a year's disqualification from driving and fined $250 in the Penrith District Court, on September 8, for high-range drink driving at McGraths Hill.

NSW court documents show that Dr Hasil was sentenced on September 29 in the Downing Centre Local Court for high-range drink driving in Cardiff in June and disqualified from driving for three years and put on a two-year good behaviour bond.

Whew. I'm out of breath! Here's the source.

You might know the rest of the saying ("so shall ye reap"), and so might Pennsylvania dentist Thomas McFarland, Jr., but he paid it no heed. The "sewing" in this case was the dumping of about 300 used needles [and other medical waste] into the ocean, which washed up on the beach in Avalon, New Jersey - where McFarland owns a vacation home!

How did the authorities figure out it was McFarland? As reported in The Press of Atlantic City:

... using identifying codes on the medical debris, [investigators] zeroed in on a small number of dental practices where the debris could have originated... McFarland's was one of them.

The reaping?

McFarland was charged with two third-degree felonies [unlawful disposal of regulated medical waste and unlawful discharge of a pollutant] that each carries a possible prison term of five years and a total of $125,000 in fines, [State Attorney General Anne] Milgram said.

To read more (a fair amount) click here.

Despite having examined the patient several times in 2002 and 2003, the doctor failed to notice that his patient had a 32 pound cyst! What did he tell her? Per the Otago [New Zealand] Daily Times online, that ...

...she was overweight and prescribed weight-loss pills.

Wrong. Very wrong.

The woman, a 44-year-old mother of three, was eventually was taken to Christchurch Hospital in severe pain where the cyst was removed. The woman told The Press yesterday the cyst was cancerous and she needed an operation to remove her womb, ovaries and fallopian tubes.

What happened to the doctor?

[He] was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal in 2006. He was censured and fined $22,500 but his name was suppressed to protect his practice and family.

Wow. That's it? I agree with the victim:

"I've lost my insides, but he's still practising," she said.

She felt ill that the doctor continued to treat patients who were unaware of the misconduct finding. The patient called for a radical change from the health system so the names of medical professionals found guilty of professional misconduct were made public.

Here's the source.

Although you usually get what you pay for, that does not apply in this case. As reported by radio station CJAD:

A 34-year-old St Constant woman has taken her doctor before the College of Physicians disciplinary committee for her more than $5 000 breast augmentation which only lasted four days.

They weren't implants; Chantal Atkinson didn't want those. Instead, Verdun doctor Denis Bisson suggested a fat injection.

All went well, but over just four days, Atkinson watched as her breasts disappeared; The fat was reabsorbed into her body.

The fat transfer technique is not officially recognized by the College of Physicians, and its members are not allowed to perform it.

Bisson is facing a similar complaint from another woman. 44-year-old Manon Valade says her breasts "melted away like ice."

Snap! 5,000 clams, a procedure that couldn't have been pleasant, and nothing to show for it, except some fat where she didn't want it! Here's the source.

All doctors know that it is unethical, at a minimum, to have a sexual relationship with a patient. And that, at a minimum, there is an appearance of impropriety when a boss has a sexual relationship with a subordinate. Well, as reported by Radio New Zealand, a family doctor in New Zealand had a sexual relationship with a patient, who also worked for him. (I'd wager that he's married too.) As you would expect, he's facing disciplinary proceedings. Here's the source.

You would not believe the frequency with which doctors sexually abuse their patients. In doing research for these posts, I come across cases similar to this at least several times each week.

According to a woman examined by Arkansas Dr. Clarence Jay Arendall, here's what happened, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:

[The woman] said in the lawsuit filed March 12 that she visited Arendall for an ear infection in the past five years but that during the examination, he lowered her pants, touched her genitals, fondled her breasts and made sexual comments to her.

The suit also claims that Arendall made her addicted to pain pills. He prescribed the pain pills to her and had her pick them up each week at his office after hours, and continued to increase her prescription until she was taking 240 pills a week, the suit states.

The woman experienced seven seizures, of which Arendall was aware. And he knew that the pain medication was associated with seizures but continued to increase the dosage, the suit states.

He also threatened to have her husband fired from his job if the woman told anyone about his conduct, according to the lawsuit.

Maybe these are just baseless allegations? Unlikely. Consider this: The prosecutor said that

Alma Police Chief Russell White told him last week that investigators had received complaints from 15 to 20 women who claimed to have been sexually abused by Arendall.

Dr. Arundell has been charged with second-degree sexual abuse, and is being investigated regarding the additional 15-20 complaints received by the police. And his medical license was suspended pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing. You can read more here.

Remember the post the other day about the doctor who got a one week suspension for having a sexual relationship with a patient? Well, Dr. Mark Blaylock got a one month suspension for ... putting a picture of a government official in the trash! For real. Dr. Blaylock is the chief medical officer at the Manguzi Hospital in South Africa. It would appear that health MEC [Member of the Executive Council] Peggy Nkonyeni took great offense at this most heinous crime. So who will really suffer as a result of Dr. Blaylock's suspension? Per allAfrica.com:

Ironically, Blaylock will make more money working as a locum doctor in the private sector during this month's suspension than he does as a senior doctor at the rural hospital.

A hospital source who asked not to be named said that, ultimately patients would suffer most as the hospital was short-staffed and Blaylock's skilled would be greatly missed.

They sure showed him. You can read more (a fair amount) here.

You are psychologist Andrew Jacobs, and you need a psychiatrist to treat your wife for depression. Not surprisingly, you refer her to the same Harvard-trained psychiatrist you've been referring people to for 10 years. Surprisingly, this man, Kansas Dr. Douglas Greenens, tells your wife that she is in an unhealthy marriage. He then has a sexual relationship with your wife while she is still his patient! You find out, so he ends the doctor-patient relationship, but soon thereafter, resumes the intimate relationship. Your wife then divorces you and marries ... Dr. Greenens.

What punishment do you think the Kansas Board of Healing Arts handed down for this major violation of professional ethics? Before I tell you, let me also share with you some additional information that the Board had in its possession, as reported by The Topeka Capital-Journal:

Investigators with the Kansas board also have benefit of the Missouri healing arts board's confidential 300-page report on Geenens' out-of-bounds association with women. Geenens was publicly reprimanded by Missouri regulators and, to escape broader discipline, agreed in October to "retire" his license in that state.

Snap! 300 pages? On top of this incident? The punishment: a one-week suspension of his license! UFB! (Also, his practice will be supervised for 2 years, and he has to attend a course.(La di da.) Maybe he's emerged from all of this a changed man?

Jacobs said Geenens bragged that a member of the healing arts board secretly promised him the board wouldn't hand down a severe punishment. Meanwhile, Geenens filed an ethics complaint against Jacobs in Missouri, but the case was dismissed a year later.

Was that it for Greenens? He (or more likely, his insurer) took a relatively small hit:

Jacobs filed a civil lawsuit, later settled for $100,000, alleging Geenens prescribed psychiatric drugs to cause his wife to accept the doctor's advances.

You can read more (a fair amount) here.

Remember when a bunch of people at UCLA Medical Center snuck a peak at Brittany Spears' electronic medical records? No? I didn't either. Well they did. As reported by California Healthline:

The Department of Public Health said 53 employees, including 14 doctors, at UCLA Medical Center breached Spears' records on two occasions.

They were disciplined or fired, right?

None of the physicians quit or were fired.

What what what? None of the physicians? Then the nonphysicians must have skated by too, right? Nope.

18 [nonphysician] employees resigned, retired or were dismissed after the violations were discovered, according to UCLA data.

I'm guessing this is why:

In the past, UCLA has said physicians are overseen by a group of their peers, while other employees report to the human resources department.

Lovely. Here's the source.

A helluva lot. As reported in The Brisbane Times:

Court documents reveal the GP [general practitioner], known only as DAP, began having sex with patients as early as 1987.

He was twice suspended from practicing in 1996 and 2001.

He ... faced disciplinary action after admitting to maintaining sexual relationships with at least eight female patients, including the daughter of an elderly woman.

The Brisbane doctor, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims, was twice jailed in 2005 for repeatedly sexually abusing his 10 and 11 year-old daughters.

His own daughters too! And after all that, the Health Practitioner's Tribunal still would not yank his license. Instead, they suspended him for 5 years, concluding that his epilepsy affected his behavior! At long last, Dr. DAP's rein of terror is over. The Brisbane Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the Tribunal's suspension and banned this serial sexual predator from ever practicing medicine again. Here's the source. (And it happens in the U.S. too.)

As reported by The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, here is the story of Dr. John Geoffrey Limbert of Victoria, British Columbia:

This family physician cared for a female patient for five years during which time she had two pregnancies. Subsequently, he established himself as a full-time sex therapist [I think you can guess where this is going] and she sought his professional advice. During this therapy he began to embrace her for progressively long periods of time. He advised her against having sexual relations with her husband and the marital relationship deteriorated considerably.

On one occasion during a pelvic examination he made inappropriate sexual remarks about her pelvic anatomy and breasts.

Later, they became involved in inappropriate activity related to the act of urination, which they called "water sports", which was repeated up to three times weekly. The patient fell in love with the doctor. Ultimately the interaction was discovered by the doctor's wife.

Then what?

The doctor apologized to the patient for his inappropriate behaviour, entered into therapy and consented to his therapist reporting his behaviour to the College.

So what happened to Dr. Limbert?

[He] was charged with professional misconduct for having engaged in sexual impropriety with a patient (among other things). He pleaded guilty to professional misconduct but not to incompetence. [Not misconduct! UFB!]

The Committee had no difficulty in accepting the plea of guilty and revoked the physician's licence. Upon receiving the doctor's undertaking not to appeal the decision, there was no need to consider the allegation of incompetence...

Here's how Georgia Dr. Totada R. Shanthaveerappa promoted his "Integrated Medical Specialists" and "Integrated Chemotherapy Specialists" clinics, as reported in the Gwinnett Daily Post:

He advertised that his clinic practiced "safe and effective, nontoxic, scientifically-based alternative" medicine that could "cure or control most cancer and other chronic disease," according to court documents.

Per the doctor's lawyer, he admitted injecting 5 patients with DNP, a weed killer. But that's not what he was busted for. It was health care fraud that did him in. Seems that when he submitted claims to insurance companies, he masked the drugs and treatments he actually provided. I wonder why ... So what happened to Dr. Shanthaveerappa? His license was suspended back in 2005, and last week, he got 5 years probation (after already serving 400 days of home detention). That was for the insurance fraud. As for the weed killer injections - zippy. Apparently the authorities could not demonstrate that any harm came of it.

Dr. Jean-Gilles Blain, a 72-year-old neurologist, will not be accused of being oversensitive. When a patient came to him for an EMG, complaining of numbness in her arm, here's what he said, as reported on Canada.com:

He called her "fat" several times, told her she ate too much and said her problems were all in her head.

Blain later stuck his hand between her thighs, saying: "How can such a beautiful girl like you be such a fat balloon?" the patient recalled.

The doctor also fell asleep during the consultation and snored, she testified.

Such compassion. What did the Quebec College of Physicians do to Dr. Blain when the patient filed a complaint? No doctoring for 12 months. If that seems a little harsh, it's likely because Dr. Feelgood was disciplined in 2001, and got remedial training, and was disciplined again in 2003, and got remedial training. To read more (just a little), click here.

And the tattoo says "Hot Rod." That HAD to hurt! The patient was undergoing surgery, and was sedated when the surgeon took the photo. Seems the doc showed it around (so he's not a brain surgeon - ba-da-bing), and someone made an anonymous call to the press. Snap!

So you're a doctor, and you're convicted of sexual assault and drug trafficking. You automatically lose your license, right? Nope. Dr. Sean Buckingham, of Canada, was so convicted, and still has his license! What did he do? Per the National Post:

Nearly two dozen witnesses testified during the trial, including a number of complainants who alleged Dr. Sean Buckingham sexually assaulted them.

One woman testified Buckingham, 47, tied her to a tree, beat her with a branch and sodomized her. Another said he asked her for oral sex while her seven-month old daughter was on her lap. A witness also said Buckingham agreed to write her a prescription for painkillers, but only if he could have half.

Throughout the seven-week trial, witnesses told the court the incidents happened in Buckingham's office, his home and his vehicle, sometimes after he picked them up at Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

At the time of his arrest two years ago, Buckingham was under police surveillance "from dawn to dusk." Police recorded more than 3,000 phone calls during which the doctor occasionally spoke to people about "candy bars" and "cigarettes."

The Crown said the items were code for drugs, in particular the highly addictive drug OxyContin, known as "hillbilly heroin."

Damn! A bona fide predator with an MD. So he was convicted - now what? Per The Aurora:

The Newfoundland and Labrador College of Physicians and Surgeons have the power to revoke or suspend his medical licence, but they need to 'investigate' first. They acknowledged his conviction but as an 'allegation against Buckingham'.

Wow, is there any such thing as automatic anymore? Seriously, who would even trust a doctor of his record with an ingrown toenail after all this?

What the hell is going on up there? To read more, click here and here.

Cliff Blake got nailed twice - first, literally, when a nail went into his foot. Then by Milwaukee podiatrist John S. Lanham. For an office visit that took one hour, the tab was $4,378.93! How could that be?

For a cortisone shot (including the numbing shot), $1,700! (The cost of the medicine: $15!)

For 2 sterile syringes with needles (that cost about 10 cents each): $85!

A "new patient fee" of $265.00.

This is a risk you take when you use the yellow pages to find a doctor! Oh, and I'll bet you can't guess the name of the only podiatrist disciplined by Wisconsin in the past 5 years - Dr. Lanham! As reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A few years ago, patients complained about Lanham's high bills to the state podiatric society. That prompted an investigation into the doctor on suspicion of fraudulent billing. The state eventually suspended him for 90 days. Lanham's suspension ended in April, one month before Blake's visit.

You can read more (plenty) here.

You'd probably be better off having your palm read than having your x-rays or CT scans read by Oregon and Washington radiologist David Shoemaker. Both states have suspended Dr. Shoemaker's license. Here are a few of the "Findings of Fact" by the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners:

"On May 18, 2001, Patient I underwent CT scans (with contrast) of the abdomen and pelvis. [Dr. Shoemaker] noted small cysts in the ovaries, and noted a normal uters. The patient did not have ovaries or a uterus." [Emphasis mine. Can you blame me?]

He x-rayed the foot of a patient complaining of foot and toe pain. He noted a hammertoe deformity, but "failed to note the presence of a metallic foreign body in the toe area." [!]

"On May 18, 2000, [Dr. Shoemaker performed a CT scan on Patient K's pelvis and hips, noting a normal uterus. Patient K did not have a uterus." [Yes, the emphasis is mine again. Shazam!]

He did a chest x-ray of a patient, and thought she might have a tumor "masquerading as pneumonia." So he ordered a CT scan, and concluded that there was evidence of a tumor. Wrong! The patient had pneumonia, not a tumor.

He performed a mammogram and noted that NO right-sided lymph notes had been visualized. There were right lymph nodes.

In Patient A, he failed to note a mass in the neck that turned out to be cancerous. Said Dr. Shoemaker, it was a "terrible miss on my part."

SFM. You can read the entire Oregon Board of Medical Examiners Final Order (if you're really bored - it's 14 pages) here.

... he has sex with her 12 days after operating on her! And then again 3 days after that!

Maybe he meant no sex with anyone but him? So what was the punishment be for California OBGYN Stuart Fischbein? An Administrative Law Judge who heard the matter recommended that Dr. Fischbein's license be revoked. The state medical board disagreed, and put him on conditional probation for seven years. When he sees female patients, there must be a chaperone in the room. He must also take ethics courses, and continue with his psychological counseling. You can read more here.

Did Dr. Rhys Cullen really think he could write prescriptions for 50,000 tablets of Sudomyl (used to make Meth) over a 2-year period without anyone noticing? And, did he really think that, after being told by the High Court in February 2007 not to prescribe Sudomyl, that they wouldn't be watching? (He must have, because he started doing it again that month!) That last bit led to his suspension. A hearing on the charges against Dr. Cullen will take place from September 24 - October 5, 2007. To read more about this New Zealand doctor, click here.

Not only did 64-year-old Dr. Suma Mondal repeatedly fail an English exam, as reported in This Is Lancashire.

She was under professional review by her peers since October 2001 as senior staff attempted to improve her levels of performance.

In January 2003, her colleagues became so concerned about progress that they reported her to the General Medical Counsel ("GMC").

When her case was heard in May 2006 (quite a backlog, there!) the GMC required her to undergo a five-month assessment.

In September 2006, she was banned from practicing medicine for a year.

That year having passed, Dr. Mondal applied for reinstatement. Guess what? She got it! There are conditions, though. She must pass an English language test within 12 months, and must pass a GMC competency test too. Kind of makes you wonder about all of those patients she was seeing during the 3 1/2 year it took for the case to get to the GMC hearing.

No, you didn't say these things Dr. Lau, did you?

When asked by Patient A if the cramping she had experienced was normal, Dr. Lau said “I wouldn’t know, I’m not a woman.” [So I guess he would know if cramping is normal for insensitive, unprofessional clods?]

When asked by Patient A if the sex of the baby could be determined from the ultrasound, Dr. Lau said “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been pregnant.”

Patient B said the only question Dr. Lau asked her was: “If she was pregnant, would she be keeping the baby?”

Oh, and Dr. Lau recorded that various tests had been performed on Patients A, B,C and D. Think they were done? Nope. And it turns out Patient A had chlamydia, which can cause eye infections and pneumonia in babies.

What do you think happened to Ontario, Canada Dr. Alvin Lau? He was suspended for a year. Just a bit light, I'd say. I'm sure Patients A, B, C and D would agree.

They both sew with a steady hand, right? Somehow, a 30-year-old Indian man posed as a doctor for almost a year without raising even an eyebrow. So how was he caught? A security guard overheard the "doctor" telling a patient that he did not know the way to the pathology lab! And what did the man say when he was caught? He said he was a surgeon in India, had a applied for a job, and was just wandering around waiting for word on his application. But when the police checked him out, they learned that he works in a women's tailor shop! No doubt that's where he made (really) the doctor's uniform that he wore around the hospital.

So 12 years ago, a woman saw a man acting suspiciously in the Vanderbuilt Hospital parking lot. Said Kristi Wilson, "He looked like he had a wig. It was just really bizarre." The man was Dr. Ray Mettetal. As reported by NewsChannel5.com,

he was wearing a wig and a fake beard, and he had fake ID, a giant syringe, and was stalking another doctor, his former boss at Vanderbilt. Later, investigators discovered he had a stockpile of the deadly poison, ricin.

Dr. Mettetal was convicted of having ricin and fake IDs, and served 7 years in prison. His medical license was suspended. He was released from prison when an appeals court determined that the search warrant used by the police was no good. So now Dr. Mettetal wants his license back. What do you think the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners decided?

Continue reading "Ricin Doctor Wants Medical License Back" »

Adam Scioli, then an anesthesiology resident at Temple University, sold the date rape drug Ketamine to an undercover detective. Think about the lives that could have been ruined with that drug? Scioli should have lost the ability to ever practice medicine, and received a hefty jail sentence. Nope. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, obtaining the controlled substance fraudulently (from the hospital pharmacy), and violating the Controlled Substances Act. His sentence? Two months in jail! Cocaine gets you 5 years. This guy gets 2 months! Oh, and Pennsylvania suspended his medical license because of his felony conviction for violating the Controlled Substances Act.

So Scioli is done with medicine, right? Wrong. On July 1, 2007, the Delaware Psychiatric Center took him on as a resident despite the fact that his medical license in Pennsylvania is still suspended. And what does the Director of the Center have to say about this brilliant hire? Don't know. She didn't return a reporter's numerous calls and e-mails. I'm guessing Scioli will be looking for a new job soon. You can read more here.

At least one of them, anyway. The allegations against Ohio Dr. Somnath Roy are as follows:

During the interview, Dr. Roy insisted on examining her breast and then fondled her. He also asked her to pull her pants down. (as reported by Brad Dicken of The Chronicle-Telegram).

Another woman said that, on her first day, Dr. Roy fondled her while demonstrating a breast exam that he said she would be assisting with as part of her duties. He also told her that she had small breasts and asked if that ran in her family. On her second (and final) day, he told her that she needed to wear a padded bra so she would “look bigger.”

Both of the above women have filed lawsuits against Dr. Roy. Here are a couple other allegations against the doctor:

A 47-year-old Elyria man said Dr. Roy rubbed his genitals on his knee and thigh during examinations about six times over the course of the eight years he was Roy’s patient.

A couple said that Roy had asked them explicit questions about their sex life that had nothing to do with the reason they were seeing him.

Posted by John Mesirow | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Doctor, Doctor

Earlier this month, the North Carolina Legislature honored Dr. Bob Crummie as "doctor of the day." In addition to some interesting "deep thoughts" (see below), Dr. Bob has had a few run-ins with the law:

In 1997, he was convicted of driving while intoxicated. (Okay, that was a while ago.)

In March 2006, he was charged with driving while intoxicated. He had an open bottle of wine in his coat pocket. (Big-ass pockets, or one of those wine-o miniatures?)

In 2007, he was charged with another driving while intoxicated.

As for Dr. Bob's "deep thoughts,"

many of them are contained in his book "Dr. Bob's Grocery Store Medicine and Healthy Life Anecdotes," which he handed out, for free!, to the North Carolina Legislators. Here are a few tidbits:

"There is no such thing as a homosexual. The Gay Movement is a hoax. Individuals who act out homosexually are at best very neurotic and at worst psychotic. Most of them are character disorders."

In what he describes as "one of my funniest stories," Crummie tells how he once put a stop to homosexuality at an N.C. prison when, as superintendent, he threatened to give electric shock therapy to anyone caught in the act. With several inmates present, he demonstrated the procedure on one inmate who was severely depressed.
"We don't hear about the successful lobotomies."

"Schizophrenia is linked to rejection by one's mother."

Certainly everyone is entitled to their opinions. But I'm guessing Dr. Bob will be losing a few patients, and, sadly, probably gaining a few new ones. He's got bigger worries, though, since the North Carolina Medical Board has charged him with unprofessional conduct. The hearing is on August 15.

Dr. Byron Timberlake, an otolaryngologist in Front Royal, Viriginia, was found to have sexually molested 6 young male patients. His sentence - PROBATION. Oh, and he couldn't see patients under 18. A few year later, his probation was lifted, as were the restrictions on his license. He's been practicing in Virginia ever since. Regarding the sexual assaults, to read the "findings of fact and conclusions of law" in awful detail, click here. To view Dr. Timberlake's profile on the Virginia Board of Medicine web site, click here. Where was the justice for these boys?

This is insane. It all started on May 25, 2003 in New Zealand when a cat named Lui started licking his balls - really. This led his owner to take him to the vet, where things went from bad to worse, ending with Lui dying 11 days later. Litigation involving Lui's care has been going on for 4 YEARS! And the end could be more than a year away! Thank you, Kiwis, for today's Juice.

While reviewing some doctor disciplinary cases, I came across this incredible story. In 1976, Illinois pharmacist Gerald Barnbaum had his license revoked for Medicaid fraud. He moved to California, and legally changed his name to Gerald Barnes, a prominent doctor whose name he found in a medical directory. Then he wrote the California Medical Board and got a copy of the real Dr. Barnes' medical license, and wrote his medical school and got a copy of his medical school diploma.

For the next 20 years, he was Dr. Gerald Barnes, despite getting caught many times. (Per the San Francisco Chronicle, "he was sent to prison five times, convicted of illegally practicing medicine, mail fraud, grand theft, even involuntary manslaughter, but each time after being paroled, he resumed his sham.")

So where is Dr. Barnes now? He's in prison in Illinois, where he'll probably remain for the rest of his life. To read more about this incredible con, click here.

Dr. Nilon Tallant was incredibly thrilled to be honored as the Texas "Doctor of the Day" on January 12, 2007. He correctly assumed that the Texas House of Representatives did not know that he is a CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER who had his license revoked (by the Texas Medical Board!) for 4 years. Said Lt. Gutierrez, who investigated Dr. Tallant's crime, and described him as extremely exploitative and abusive:

I can’t believe that the Medical Board let him practice again. Why didn’t they talk to us before making that decision?

And what was his crime? Dr. Tallant, then 64, was charged with 19 counts of sexual performance with a child, a 17-year-old PATIENT. He pleaded guilty to a felony and got probation. PROBATION!

Representative Leo Berman, who introduced Dr. Tallant, was not pleased.

I don't like the idea that I introduced a sex offender. He should have told whoever selected him to be the Doctor of the Day that he is a registered sex offender and not try to appear before the Texas House of Representatives and make himself look legitimate before the entire state.

Are you shitting me? You expect a doctor who sexually molested a minor patient to just out himself?

And guess what the TV station investigating the matter discovered: The Texas Legislature honored Dr. Tallant on April 21, 2006! To read the entire story, click here.

Too quick, said the United Kingdom's General Medical Council disciplinary panel, of Dr. Russell Reid, the UK's top expert on transsexualism. The panel concluded that Dr. Reid's treatment of patients B,C,D, E and F was inappropriate, not in their best interests, and in breach of international guidelines on the treatment of transsexuals. Here are the panels conclusions:

Dr Reid was found to have prescribed hormones to Patient B despite lacking any evidence to corroborate that she was transsexual. She told the inquiry she was severely depressed and felt trapped in gender limbo.

The gender psychiatrist was found to have given Patient C, a convicted paedophile, hormones and referred him for surgery too quickly and without evidence that he was truly transsexual. Patient C - a male-to-female transsexual who has reverted to living as a man - told the inquiry that he wanted his sex change reversed.

Dr Reid was found to have prescribed Patient D male hormones against the advice in a second opinion provided by another psychiatrist. The patient, who wanted to change sex in order to fulfil a delusion that she was turning into Jesus, only avoided surgery to remove both her breasts because she was sectioned and diagnosed with manic depression. She told the inquiry she was never transsexual and claimed she had been misdiagnosed by Dr Reid.

The disciplinary panel determined that Dr Reid also prescribed patients E and F with hormones too quickly and without an adequate assessment of their health or proof that they were transsexuals.

I'm thinking you want to err on the side of EXTREME CAUTION. So will Dr. Reid be barred from practicing medicine?

Continue reading "Doctor With A Quick Sex-Change Trigger?" »