FORGET WALL STREET, CHECK OUT
CORRUPT HOSPITALS
Ron A. Virmani, M.D.
On September 1, 1995, Presbyterian hospital called me to their imposing corporate
Board Room in Charlotte, NC and dropped a bomb on me. They said they were summarily suspending my hospital
privileges at 4 PM that day!
Suspension from a hospital is a kiss of death for any physician!
Without hospital privileges, I could never deliver another baby nor help women in need of gynecologic surgery.
My future went blank in front of my eyes!
I knew that they had been reviewing my charts for several months now.
But they never gave me a chance to explain my actions and defend my charts as required by hospital€™s
own by-laws. This was truly a stab in the back.
€œWe do not have to tell you what the charts are.€
Said then CEO of Presbyterian hospital Mr. Paul Betzold and chief of ob-gyn Dr. Ronald Brown. They
simply stated that I had 24 €œproblematic€ charts, as determined by the peer review committee.
Having migrated from India, I had received my M.D. from New
Jersey Medical School in 1985 and finished my ob-gyn residency from Temple University hospital in 1989. I
had come to Charlotte in 1990 and become a member of Presbyterian hospital medical staff as an ob-gyn physician.
On December 1994, I had a surgical mishap. Inadvertently,
I punctured the external iliac artery in a patient during laparoscopy. This was unfortunate but a known
complication of such a procedure. I immediately proceeded to laparotomy and summoned Dr. John Hollenbeck
(general surgeon) and Dr. Scott Andrews (cardiovascular surgeon) to assist me. We repaired the injury and
the patient went home after a few days stay in the hospital. My malpractice insurance company as well as
several independent reviewers determined that I met the standard of care in this case. However, citing
business reasons, the insurance company later decided to settle the lawsuit for 300K.
Following the incident, Presbyterian hospital went on a fishing
expedition of my charts from over a two year period. Most of these charts had been filed in the hospital
archives as having no quality of care issues. Anyway, a departmental €œpeer review€
committee headed by Dr. James Hardy nitpicked and labeled 24 of them €œproblematic€ out of my 102 charts
reviewed.
The Medical Board of North Carolina asked an experienced ob-gyn
physician from Charlotte, Dr. Kenneth Chambers to review my cases. He as well as several other reviewers
found my charts to be within the standard of care.
According to a letter circulated by Dr. Jared Schwartz in October
1998 among the hospital€™s medical staff, I was the first physician to be suspended in 20 years at Presbyterian
hospital! Was it just a coincidence that I was the first ob-gyn physician of Indian origin at Presbyterian
hospital? I went to the local courts and dug up medical malpractice cases. I found out
the following facts, which are true to the best of my knowledge.
Dr. W. Wortman injured a patient€™s bladder at
a laparoscopy. The jury found him negligent and awarded the Plaintiff $100,000. (92-CVS-16674)
Dr. Kenneth Baker performed a laparscopic surgery in October
1993 at Union Memorial Hospital. An injury to the intestine was not recognized at this time.
Patient presented later with abdominal abscess and died.
(Union County 95 CVS 01325) Dr. Baker performed another laparoscopy in November 1994 at which time a bowel perforation was not recognized.
She died of sepsis. (Union County, 96 CVS 00992) Presbyterian hospital had no problem
subsequently giving Dr. Baker privileges in ob-gyn department.
Dr. Whitesides performed a laser laparoscopy on a patient in
1995 (99- CVS-5141). The patient complained of abdominal pain on December 2 and 3, the physician prescribed
stool softener. On December 4, she passed out and the husband had to carry her. An exploratory
laparotomy and hemicolectomy was done. Suit also named Nalle clinic.
Dr. C. Ellington performed a laser laparoscopy in September
1991 on a patient and perforated her small bowel. She underwent multiple subsequent surgeries and became
unable to eat and drink. She was placed on TPN (intravenous nutrition). The suit also
named Bradford Clinic and PHAC. (94-CVS-11679)
Dr. John Tidwell performed a laparoscopy on a patient who died
from overwhelming sepsis six days later. (97-CVS-1707) Dr. Tidwell also failed to respond
to nurse€™s pages for another patient in labor in August 1989. The infant suffered severe
physical and neurological injuries. (92-CVS-11209)
Dr. A J Lewis failed to manage fetal distress during labor
in 1992, the parties named (Dr. Lewis and Mintview ob-gyn) settled for $5M in May 1995.
Drs. M. Torres and K Stephens were performing a hysterectomy
at Presbyterian hospital, while managing a labor patient at Carolinas Medical Center in September 1995. They
failed to respond to fetal distress in time. The baby was born with zero apgars and died 16 hours after
birth.(96-CVS-9576)
Dr. W. McDonald failed to assess fetal distress in February
1987. The result was severe physical and neurological injuries. (96-CVS-7927).
Dr. Alice Teague delayed performing a c/section after unsuccessful
vacuum extraction of a baby with much fundal pressure. The baby was born with birth asphyxia and skull
fracture. The jury awarded Plaintiff 23.2 million. The hospital settled separately for
$6M. (95-CVS-13212)
These cases are only the tip of the iceberg of adverse events
involving Presbyterian physicians. I know of no disciplinary action against these physicians by the hospital.
They kept on practicing at Presbyterian hospital. Some are still there. In fact,
some of them sat in my judgment.
In 1996, I filed a state court case for breach of the by-laws.
The hospital started a new review, ordered by the court, using outside reviewers, but then suppressed their findings!
They started yet another internal review, which found 25 of my charts to be problematic. However,
10 of these charts were different from the original 24 charts!
In 1998, after the letter from Dr. Schwartz circulated, I realized
that I was targeted because of ethnic prejudice. In January 1999, I filed a discrimination case in the
federal court. The hospital attorneys dragged the case for so long that the original judge died.
A new judge was assigned.
However, out of nowhere, Judge Mullen, apparently sympathetic
to the hospital, appeared and grabbed the case form the new judge. He kicked out my federal lawsuit stating
that I should have pleaded discrimination in the original state court case in 1996! At that time, I had
no evidence of discrimination! So much for spending eleven long years in the courts
and a million dollars in legal fees! My career has been destroyed for ever!
Even though North Carolina Medical Board found my cases meeting
the standard of care and said they would help me, they never did. All national, state, local medical organizations
and leaders in the community have stood on the sidelines watching the travesty of justice. The peer review
was a complete sham!
After I filed a suit alleging discrimination, Presbyterian
hospital became sensitized to the issue of diversity. They made alliance with Charlotte Medical Society,
made up of African-American and minority doctors. They started sending their employees to diversity workshops.
But they do not even think about rehabilitating my destroyed career and life! Damn the Indian!
I have struggled with my sweat and blood for 13 years and become a martyr just like Dr. M.L.K. Jr. I
am left in the dust, over which the hospital is proclaiming its newfound love for diversity, rewarding many other minority
physicians but continuing to completely ignore me.
In this state and the country, there is much corruption of
the process of €œpeer review€, which is the ultimate protector of public health. Bad
physicians of the politically correct persuasions are allowed to practice based on their clout. Good physicians,
who are not part of the €œgood old boys club€ and not approved by the powers that be, are disciplined
and thrown to dogs. The €œpeer review€ system is used by the physicians to protect
their own and destroy the disenfranchised. The toll of corrupt and greedy hospitals is likely to exceed
the toll of Wall Street.
RON A. VIRMANI, M.D.
Board Certified Obstetrician
and Gynecologist
4626 Charlestown Manor Drive
Charlotte NC 28211
704-362-2240 (Phone)
704-362-5702 (Fax)
RVBABY1@YAHOO.COM
