PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL’S LEGACY OF RACISM

I used to deliver pretty babies!  Not any more.  Why not?

On September 1, 1995, Presbyterian hospital revoked my OBG privileges based on a sham “peer review” of my 102 charts.  Never was I given any chance to defend any of those charts.  Born in India and a Board certified obg, my career bit the dust.  NC medical board appointed a senior obg physician from Charlotte to review my 24 “problematic cases”, who found them to be within the standard of care.

I spent the next 11 years and a million dollars in the arcane court system trying to get justice, which did not happen.  In 1997, the hospital hired two outside reviewers to review my cases, but then suppressed their findings.

In 2010, Charlotte Medical Society (CMS) wrote to the hospital- “We hope that Presbyterian hospital does not wish to create a legacy of injustice towards any member of our organization…We call upon the Hospital’s sense of fairness to make amends and provide Dr. Virmani the justice and dignity deserved by all physicians.”

North Carolina Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (NCAPI) and Hindu Center of Charlotte wrote similar letters to the hospital.  The Hospital met with representatives of CMS and NCAPI (without me) to discuss my case in 2010.  I was then asked to contact Dr. Thomas Zweng, Chief of Medical Staff, for a meeting. 

I met up with Dr. Zweng for a full hour in April 2011, when he listened to my story with keenness and passion.  However, in a later letter, he offered no resolution for my destroyed life but wished me “the best in future endeavors”.

I am a US citizen, went to medical school in NJ, finished my obg residency in Phila.  I have suffered for 16 years at the hands of the hospital, that has now become a champion of diversity.  Guess who taught them? 

I still await my share of justice and dignity.

Ron A. Virmani, M.D., FACOG  email:rvbaby1@yahoo.com  tel 704-907-5925