Connecticut Health Investigative Team (http://c-hit.org/category/fines-sanctions/)
The state’s weekly COVID summary: 972,530 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, with 3,557 testing positive over the last 7 days; the 7-day positivity rate is 9.24%, the state Department of Public Health (DPH) reported. The state reported 15,474,325 PCR/NAAT tests, with 38,484 residents testing positive over the last 7 days. Hospitalizations total 383. The state reported 22 deaths since Sept. 22, bringing the death total to 11,365.
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday suspended the medical license of a Woodbridge pulmonologist for conducting sexually inappropriate examinations of two female patients and fined a West Hartford ophthalmologist $40,000 for failing to ensure that four patients received the correct implant during cataract surgery. State Department of Public Health (DPH) records show that the pulmonologist, Dr. Sushil K. Gupta, conducted the inappropriate exams between 2019 and 2022. In suspending his license, the board said Gupta poses a “clear and immediate danger to the public.”
DPH records show that Gupta also violated a 2013 decision of the board that required that he have a female chaperone in the room with him when examining or treating female patients. This is the second time that Gupta has been accused of sexually inappropriate exams of female patients. The board revoked his license in 2006 after finding that the testimony of two women was credible when they described Gupta touching them in inappropriate ways during pulmonary exams, state records show.
The state Medical Examining Board imposed disciplinary action against four doctors Tuesday, including fining a West Hartford ophthalmologist $15,000 for operating on the wrong eye and fining a Bridgeport radiologist $5,000 in connection with a delayed cancer diagnosis. The board also reprimanded the medical license of the ophthalmologist, Dr. Patrick F. Albergo, for failing to comply with his Connecticut Eye Center’s “time-out” procedures and failing to maintain adequate medical records, according to a consent order he signed. Albergo, who chose not to contest the allegations, has completed courses in medical recordkeeping and changed protocols at the center to make sure that surgeons mark the correct eye before operating, the order said. The patient needed surgery on both eyes, and both procedures were done on separate days but in the wrong order, state Department of Public Health records (DPH) show. Board member Dr. Robert A. Green said the excuse that the patient needed surgery on both eyes is not acceptable.
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday suspended the license of a Stamford doctor after state Department of Public Health officials said his excessive use of alcohol and drugs and his mental illnesses may affect his ability to safely practice medicine. A statement of charges against him says that Dr. Jeffrey Stern excessively used alcohol and narcotics in 2019 and 2020 and since 2019, has had mental illnesses or emotional disorders. DPH records show that Stern was arrested on Aug. 29, 2020 and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use and driving while intoxicated. It was unclear where the arrest took place.
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday fined an Oxford doctor $10,000 for fraudulently using another doctor’s name and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number to prescribe controlled substances to a family member. In addition to the fine, board also voted unanimously to reprimand the medical license of the doctor, Marc D. Legris, and ordered him to take a course in ethics and to practice in a supervised office setting. The order does not indicate the name of the doctor that Legris used. In a consent order approved by the board, Legris chose not to contest the allegations. Department of Public Health records show that in August 2021, Legris surrendered his own DEA registration and Connecticut controlled substance credential.
The state Medical Examining Board revoked the Connecticut medical license of a physician for a second time Tuesday after he failed to follow the terms of reinstatement including seeking help for alcohol abuse and submitting to random urine screenings. John D. Lynch II, MD, was granted a reinstatement by the board in January 2020. Under the terms, Lynch could have started practicing in February 2021, documents said. But by June 2021, a private therapist issued a report to the state Department of Public Health (DPH) indicating that Lynch “was not able to practice medicine with reasonable skill or safety.”
DPH documents also said that since February 2021, Lynch has not attended individual or support group treatment meetings, failed to submit random urine screens and failed to participate in a required clinical skills evaluation. A therapist also reported that that Lynch was off his regular medication for a mental health issue due to the cost and would likely not be able to safely practice unless he resumed the medication, documents said.
The state Medical Examining Board issued a $5,000 fine and a reprimand to an orthopedic surgeon who operated on the wrong knee of a patient in 2018 and temporarily suspended the medical license of a Colchester physician assistant who is accused of falsifying documents and excessively using alcohol and marijuana. Dr. Christopher Betz, who works at Starling Physicians, failed to follow the pre-incision protocol and failed to independently verify which knee was the site of the operation prior a procedure that took place at Bristol Hospital on Sept. 14, 2018, according to state Department of Public Health (DPH) documents. The error wasn’t reported by DPH’s Facility Licensing and Investigations Section (FLIS) to its Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Unit, which investigates complaints against physicians, for the board until July 19, 2019 after Bristol Hospital was the subject of an unannounced inspection by federal health authorities, documents said. Bristol Health reported the medical error as an adverse event on Sept.
The state Medical Examining Board denied Wednesday the request of a Shelton physician to reconsider the December revocation of his medical license after he failed to attend required mental health therapy. In a unanimous decision, the board denied Dr. Nami Bayan’s request for reconsideration following a brief hearing Wednesday morning. Bayan was seeking to have the revocation sent to a hearing on claims that state Department of Public Health (DPH) staff “tampered with evidence” and the board disregarded information that showed he had largely complied with the terms of a two-year suspension, documents show. “This action is an obvious crime,” said Bayan who added that information on his therapy was “neglected and wrongfully dismissed.”
Bayan’s license to practice medicine was suspended in 2019 and he was ordered to participate in therapy sessions at least twice a month after he exhibited signs of a mental health issue, a disciplinary report said. But DPH investigators concluded that he had missed several months of required therapy while he was out of the country from July 2020 to March 2021, according to documents.
Infant injuries, wrong-site surgeries, objects left in patients following procedures, and a health care worker hitting an “unruly” patient were among the incidents cited in hospital inspections conducted by the state Department of Public Health. The new reports, which can be found in C-HIT’s Data Mine Section, cover state inspections that were completed in 2021 with approved hospital corrective action plans. (You can find the new reports here.)
At William Backus Hospital, a pregnant woman suffering from drug abuse disorder delivered a baby who tested positive for fentanyl and buprenorphine. During the time that the baby was under observation for neonatal abstinence syndrome (drug withdrawal), a parent holding the infant fell and reported “that the infant’s head may have touched the ground a little,” the report said. Following the incident, staff determined that the baby suffered a head injury and was transferred to a higher-level hospital. The state inspector said that the hospital “failed to develop a safe plan of care for the infant to prevent a fall with injury.”
The Hospital for Central Connecticut was cited for failing to identify that an infant was assessed when forceps were used in labor and delivery, which resulted in head injuries to the infant.
The state Medical Examining Board today issued $5,000 fines to three physicians including two Bristol Hospital Emergency Department doctors who failed to diagnose and treat a patient with sepsis who later died. Another physician was also disciplined by the board for failing to act on test results. Dr. Syed Hadi and Dr. Waile Ramadan both treated a man who was brought to the Bristol Hospital Emergency Department on Jan. 7, 2019 with a high fever and other symptoms of a bacterial infection but never prescribed antibiotics, according to state Department of Public Health (DPH) investigators. The man died of sepsis two days later, documents said.