Connecticut Health Investigative Team (http://c-hit.org/category/fines-sanctions/)
Residents testing positive for COVID-19 totaled 687,555, up 2,795 since yesterday; the positivity rate is 10.93%, the state Department of Public Health (DPH) reported. The state reported 14,421,397 COVID tests completed, up 25,568. Hospitalizations declined by 100 since yesterday, bringing the total to 1,346. The state reported 241 deaths since Jan. 13, bringing the death total to 9,683.
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.
The state Medical Examining Board last month revoked the license of a Shelton physician who failed to attend required mental health therapy sessions and fined four physicians for a variety of issues involving patient care. On Dec. 21, the board revoked the medical license of Dr. Nami Bayan, which had been under suspension since May 1, 2019. Bayan’s license to practice medicine was initially suspended for two years 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. In 2018 Bayan, a surgeon who worked at H & B Quality Medical Care in Shelton, had sent repeated e-mails to the state Department of Public Health (DPH) indicating he believed the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating the possibility of a terrorist attack based on a report he made, documents said.
The state Medical Examining Board agreed Tuesday to suspend the license of a physician who is accused of repeatedly failing to comply with the terms of his prior discipline for abusing alcohol. The board also disciplined a neurologist for his prescribing habits and supported a plan to reinstate the medical license of a former Madison physician who was convicted of criminal drug charges. In 2012, the board revoked the medical license of John D. Lynch II, a former emergency department physician with Hartford HealthCare, after he was fired for coming to work smelling of alcohol, state Department of Public Health (DPH) documents said. The board reinstated Lynch’s license in January 2020 and in February 2021 Lynch could have resumed practicing medicine in Connecticut under a three-year probation with certain conditions, including that he continue to seek alcohol abuse treatment, submit to random urine screens and attend private and group treatment. In June, a private therapist issued a report to the agency indicating that Lynch “was not able to practice medicine with reasonable skill or safety.” DPH documents also said that since February, when the probationary period began, 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.
Twenty-six Connecticut hospitals will lose some of their Medicare reimbursement payments over the next year as penalties for having too many readmitted patients, new data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) show. Nationally, Medicare is reducing payments to 2,499 hospitals, about 47% of all facilities, with the average penalty being 0.64%, according to a report by Kaiser Health News (KHN). This year’s penalties were based on tracking patients from July 1, 2017 through Dec. 1, 2019, so the influx of patient care during the pandemic is not included, CMS said. In Connecticut, 72 % of all hospitals in the program will face a loss in CMS payments, beginning October 2021 through September 2022.
The state Medical Examining Board ranked 37th in the nation in the annual rate of serious disciplinary actions the board took against physicians accused of wrongdoing from 2017 to 2019, according to a Public Citizen report issued earlier this year. Connecticut’s board averaged about 13 serious disciplinary actions a year in 2017, 2018 and 2019, according to Public Citizen. The rankings are based on the number of serious disciplinary actions taken by states per 1,000 physicians. Connecticut’s rate was .65 per 1,000 physicians compared to Kentucky, which had the highest rate of serious disciplinary actions at 2.29 per 1,000 physicians, the report said. Public Citizen defines a “serious disciplinary action” as one that has a clear impact on a physician’s ability to practice.
The state Medical Examining Board agreed Tuesday to withdraw the charges filed against a Durham physician accused of providing fraudulent exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and masks after she voluntarily relinquished her medical license while it was suspended. Sue McIntosh, a retired former physician, will not face any discipline and will not be able to practice medicine unless she seeks a formal reinstatement before the board, state Department of Public Health (DPH) officials said. The board’s vote was unanimous. The board did not discuss the case before the vote other than a comment by Chair Kathryn Emmett who said since McIntosh had voluntarily surrendered her license, “there was no license to reprimand.”
McIntosh was accused of deviating from the standard of care by failing to properly diagnose or examine people who she issued signed exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and masks. The state said that McIntosh failed to build a patient and physician relationship with those who requested the exemptions, failed to obtain their medical history and failed to comply with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines by providing advice that was harmful to the public. The board suspended McIntosh’s medical license on Sept.
The Durham doctor whose license was temporarily suspended for giving out exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and masks without examining the patients surrendered her medical license Friday, according to the state Department of Public Health. Dr. Susan McIntosh was being investigated by the DPH after she was accused of allowing people to mail her Durham practice a self-addressed, stamped envelope to receive signed exemptions, the DPH said. Her license to practice medicine and surgery was suspended by the state Medical Examining Board until a hearing scheduled for Oct. 5, officials said. It’s uncertain whether that hearing will go forward.
The state Medical Examining Board agreed Friday to temporarily suspend the medical license of a Durham physician who is accused of giving out exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and masks without examining – or even knowing – the patients requesting the documents, state records show. Dr. Sue McIntosh is accused of allowing people to mail her Durham practice a self-addressed, stamped envelope to receive signed exemptions, state Department of Public Health (DPH) documents said. Her license to practice medicine and surgery is suspended until a hearing can be held on Oct. 5, officials said. The exemption paperwork that McIntosh mailed to people included explanations of what various exemptions would be, such as cancers, autism disorders, autoimmune disorders and others, and how to fill out the exemption paperwork, documents said.