Donovan Slack
USA Today
Originally published December 21, 2017
The Department of Veterans Affairs has allowed its hospitals across the country to hire health care providers with revoked medical licenses for at least 15 years in violation of federal law, a USA TODAY investigation found.
The VA issued national guidelines in 2002 giving local hospitals discretion to hire clinicians after “prior consideration of all relevant facts surrounding” any revocations and as long as they still had a license in one state.
But a federal law passed in 1999 bars the VA from employing any health care worker whose license has been yanked by any state.
Hospital officials at the VA in Iowa City relied on the illegal guidance earlier this year to hire neurosurgeon John Henry Schneider, who had revealed in his application that he had numerous malpractice claims and settlements and Wyoming had revoked his license after a patient death. He still had a license in Montana.
The article is here.
Showing posts with label Revocation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Revocation. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Sunday, December 31, 2017
VA knowingly hires doctors with past malpractice claims, discipline for poor care
Donovan Slack
USA Today
Originally published December 3, 2017
Here is an excerpt:
A VA hospital in Oklahoma knowingly hired a psychiatrist previously sanctioned for sexual misconduct who went on to sleep with a VA patient, according to internal documents. A Louisiana VA clinic hired a psychologist with felony convictions. The VA ended up firing him after they determined he was a “direct threat to others” and the VA’s mission.
As a result of USA TODAY’s investigation of Schneider, VA officials determined his hiring — and potentially that of an unknown number of other doctors — was illegal.
Federal law bars the agency from hiring physicians whose license has been revoked by a state board, even if they still hold an active license in another state. Schneider still has a license in Montana, even though his Wyoming license was revoked.
VA spokesman Curt Cashour said agency officials provided hospital officials in Iowa City with “incorrect guidance” green-lighting Schneider’s hire. The VA moved to fire Schneider last Wednesday. He resigned instead.
The article is here.
USA Today
Originally published December 3, 2017
Here is an excerpt:
A VA hospital in Oklahoma knowingly hired a psychiatrist previously sanctioned for sexual misconduct who went on to sleep with a VA patient, according to internal documents. A Louisiana VA clinic hired a psychologist with felony convictions. The VA ended up firing him after they determined he was a “direct threat to others” and the VA’s mission.
As a result of USA TODAY’s investigation of Schneider, VA officials determined his hiring — and potentially that of an unknown number of other doctors — was illegal.
Federal law bars the agency from hiring physicians whose license has been revoked by a state board, even if they still hold an active license in another state. Schneider still has a license in Montana, even though his Wyoming license was revoked.
VA spokesman Curt Cashour said agency officials provided hospital officials in Iowa City with “incorrect guidance” green-lighting Schneider’s hire. The VA moved to fire Schneider last Wednesday. He resigned instead.
The article is here.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Jury awards $16.5 million in State College suit
By Matt Carroll
Centredaily.com
A jury awarded $16.5 million Thursday to a woman who said she was drugged with carbon dioxide and manipulated to believe she was raped by family members at the hands of a former State College psychologist.
Her attorney, Bernard Cantorna, asked the jury to hold Julian Metter, 59, accountable for planting a “horror story” in the woman’s mind while she was drugged with carbon dioxide.
The jurors responded after five hours of deliberation, unanimously ordering Metter to pay what Cantorna said is the largest jury verdict in Centre County history.
“They clearly wanted to send a message that Dr. Metter is a danger to the public and anyone he might attempt to treat,” Cantorna said. “They wanted to make sure anybody and everybody could find this case and make sure he can never do this to anyone again.”
Metter, who had been in practice for 20 years, lost his license to practice psychology in June 2009 when he pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing Medicare, according to the National Council Against Health Fraud.
He was sentenced in February 2011 to serve five months in prison followed by two years probation. Cantorna said Metter is free to continue treating people, just not as a psychologist, after his probation.
When contacted Thursday night, Metter said he was saddened and disappointed by the jury’s decision. He said he will appeal the verdict.
“It was very surprising,” Metter said. “Everyone with me who knows (the woman) and the situation really felt we brought forward a very accurate picture.”
Cantorna said his client was made to believe she was raped at the hands of her family and abused in cultlike rituals by prominent members of the community.
Metter was accused in the civil lawsuit of creating those images and suggesting them as reality while the woman was drugged and in her most vulnerable state.
“He took a woman who never had any history of this and made her relive the most horrific things one could imagine,” Cantorna said Thursday during closing arguments in the six-day civil trial. “He made her live it.”
The lawsuit alleged the woman suffered lasting emotional anguish as a result. It also stated she suffered a brain injury due to repeated exposures to a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
The entire story is here.
Here is the civil complaint.
Here is a copy of the Consent Agreement and Order from the PA State Board of Psychology.
Here is Metter on Autism, with his center's "treatments" that fall outside the scope of a psychologist's practice.
Centredaily.com
A jury awarded $16.5 million Thursday to a woman who said she was drugged with carbon dioxide and manipulated to believe she was raped by family members at the hands of a former State College psychologist. Her attorney, Bernard Cantorna, asked the jury to hold Julian Metter, 59, accountable for planting a “horror story” in the woman’s mind while she was drugged with carbon dioxide.
The jurors responded after five hours of deliberation, unanimously ordering Metter to pay what Cantorna said is the largest jury verdict in Centre County history.
“They clearly wanted to send a message that Dr. Metter is a danger to the public and anyone he might attempt to treat,” Cantorna said. “They wanted to make sure anybody and everybody could find this case and make sure he can never do this to anyone again.”
Metter, who had been in practice for 20 years, lost his license to practice psychology in June 2009 when he pleaded guilty to fraudulently billing Medicare, according to the National Council Against Health Fraud.
He was sentenced in February 2011 to serve five months in prison followed by two years probation. Cantorna said Metter is free to continue treating people, just not as a psychologist, after his probation.
When contacted Thursday night, Metter said he was saddened and disappointed by the jury’s decision. He said he will appeal the verdict.
“It was very surprising,” Metter said. “Everyone with me who knows (the woman) and the situation really felt we brought forward a very accurate picture.”
Cantorna said his client was made to believe she was raped at the hands of her family and abused in cultlike rituals by prominent members of the community.
Metter was accused in the civil lawsuit of creating those images and suggesting them as reality while the woman was drugged and in her most vulnerable state.
“He took a woman who never had any history of this and made her relive the most horrific things one could imagine,” Cantorna said Thursday during closing arguments in the six-day civil trial. “He made her live it.”
The lawsuit alleged the woman suffered lasting emotional anguish as a result. It also stated she suffered a brain injury due to repeated exposures to a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen.
The entire story is here.
Here is the civil complaint.
Here is a copy of the Consent Agreement and Order from the PA State Board of Psychology.
Here is Metter on Autism, with his center's "treatments" that fall outside the scope of a psychologist's practice.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Prison psychologist loses license, job
Former staffer who faked rape has license suspended by the
Board of Psychology
By Laura Newell, Telegraph Staff Writer
 |
| Laurie Ann Martinez |
A psychologist who allegedly faked her own rape earlier this
year has lost her job with the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation.
Laurie Ann Martinez, a licensed psychologist for the state
prison system who worked at New Folsom Prison, was terminated from her post.
Her last day was Dec. 22, three days after her court appearance.
Her license has also been suspended by the state Board of
Psychology.
The board is seeking to permanently revoke her license.
“The criminal allegations against Ms. Martinez are serious
enough to warrant this action,” said Board Executive Officer Robert Kahane.
“Our mission is to protect consumers, and we think allowing Martinez to
continue to practice poses a threat to consumer health and safety.”
The rest of the story is here.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
California medical board fails to discipline 710 troubled doctors
By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times
California's medical board failed to discipline 710 troubled doctors even as they were disciplined by hospitals, surgical centers and other healthcare organizations in the state, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report by Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Public Citizen was based on an analysis of doctors' records in the National Practitioner Data Bank from 1990 to 2009. The Department of Health & Human Services uses the data bank to track doctors' discipline, medical malpractice payments and other actions. The data released to Public Citizen did not name the doctors or their workplaces.
Of the doctors who escaped state discipline in California, 35% had racked up more than one disciplinary action from another entity, according to the report.
"If the hospital or HMO has taken action, why hasn't the board?" asked Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's health research group. "That's something that as a physician or a patient I would be worried about. Hospitals rarely discipline doctors. When they do, it's usually for very serious infractions."
Jennifer Simoes, a Medical Board spokeswoman, said officials have reviewed the report but more analysis is needed.
"We believe more data needs to be obtained, but like many state agencies, we have a 20% vacancy rate and we're trying to focus on our core functions," she said, noting that board officials had been contacted by Public Citizen about investigating the report's findings. "We told them we would do it when we had the resources." She said a state hiring freeze contributed to other deficiencies noted in the report.
At least 102 of the doctors who escaped discipline in California had their privileges to practice at a given facility suspended, limited or revoked after peer reviews, according to the report.
The entire story can be read here.
California's medical board failed to discipline 710 troubled doctors even as they were disciplined by hospitals, surgical centers and other healthcare organizations in the state, according to a report released Tuesday.The report by Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Public Citizen was based on an analysis of doctors' records in the National Practitioner Data Bank from 1990 to 2009. The Department of Health & Human Services uses the data bank to track doctors' discipline, medical malpractice payments and other actions. The data released to Public Citizen did not name the doctors or their workplaces.
Of the doctors who escaped state discipline in California, 35% had racked up more than one disciplinary action from another entity, according to the report.
"If the hospital or HMO has taken action, why hasn't the board?" asked Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's health research group. "That's something that as a physician or a patient I would be worried about. Hospitals rarely discipline doctors. When they do, it's usually for very serious infractions."
Jennifer Simoes, a Medical Board spokeswoman, said officials have reviewed the report but more analysis is needed.
"We believe more data needs to be obtained, but like many state agencies, we have a 20% vacancy rate and we're trying to focus on our core functions," she said, noting that board officials had been contacted by Public Citizen about investigating the report's findings. "We told them we would do it when we had the resources." She said a state hiring freeze contributed to other deficiencies noted in the report.
At least 102 of the doctors who escaped discipline in California had their privileges to practice at a given facility suspended, limited or revoked after peer reviews, according to the report.
The entire story can be read here.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Psychologist admits to romance with inmate
Paul Walsh for the Star Tribune
A psychologist had a summertime romance with an inmate she was counseling, the state Board of Psychology determined, prompting the panel to revoke her license for at least 10 years.
In findings released Thursday, the board found that Nicole Holman, 33, of St. Paul, admitted to state Department of Corrections investigators that she and the inmate began their sexual relationship in June 2010 while she was providing therapy to him as part of the chemical dependency program.
While the board's report didn't disclose where Holman worked, state records show that she was at the Lino Lakes prison at the time of the relationship. The name of the inmate also was not disclosed.
According to the board:
Holman and the inmate "engaged in sexually explicit dialogue" in telephone conversations last summer. One call refers to the inmate "spanking" Holman. Two other calls refer to when the inmate exposed himself to Holman, "presumably during a therapeutic session."
In a three-week period from late July to mid-August, the inmate called Holman's cell phone 106 times.
Holman can apply to have her license restored in 10 years.
Prior to working with the Department of Corrections, Holman was employed with Hennepin County as a child-protection social worker, according to county records.
A telephone message was left Thursday afternoon with Holman seeking a reaction to the board's ruling.
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