1998
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NATIONAL REPORTING |
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Flawed and Sometimes Deadly Part 4: Military slow to report bad doctors to states Even when the military does report doctors, the information is sometimes incomplete, or medical boards can wait years to get the reports. "We get very little cooperation from the military in terms of providing records, like patient records," said Susan Miller, program administrator for the Colorado board. "We don't have authority over the military, the federal government, to force them to do that. We're just stuck." The Colorado board file on Dr. David R. Harmon shows that while on duty as a third-year psychiatry resident at a Navy hospital in June 1993, he took a combination of drugs that made him unfit to see patients. In August, his drug problem became worse, and he was hospitalized for severe withdrawal symptoms. On Aug. 13, 1993, the Navy officially sanctioned Harmon at an administrative proceeding with a fine and a punitive letter of reprimand. He was expelled from the residency program, and in May 1994, the Navy gave Harmon a general discharge under "honorable conditions." The Colorado medical board would later determine that Harmon presented "a substantial danger to public health and safety." But the Navy didn't notify Colorado until September 1995, more than two years after taking action against him. "That's unconscionable to wait that long," said Robert Holden of the Colorado attorney general's office. In the meantime, Harmon came home to Colorado and began obtaining drugs illegally by using fictitious names or the names of friends. "We just didn't know about it until two years later, when he got in trouble again," Miller said. "We didn't know because he didn't tell us like he was supposed to and neither did the military." Harmon eventually was arrested. "I'm aware of the fact that state boards have said they're having trouble getting records," said Dr. James R. Winn, executive vice president of the Federation of State Medical Boards. "He (the military doctor) agrees to quit if they don't report him, and they agree to go along with it." A double standard for military doctors Because of all the problems boards encountered policing military doctors, some states were forced to make a double standard: One for doctors in the state and a second, lower standard for those who aren't in the state. "As long as they don't come back, we don't worry about them," said Ola Powers, who oversees medical licensing for the Virginia medical board. "We've got enough to worry about." The license requirement for military doctors states that the license must be "active, not revoked, suspended or lapsed in registration." Dr. Anastacio T. Salvador practiced in the Air Force with an inactive Maine license. When the Air Force reported him for "a trend of difficulties with care of complex and/or emergent cases," the Maine board found no need to discipline him because he held an inactive Maine medical license. If a doctor licensed in New York doesn't renew his registration every two years, his name could be referred to the professional conduct office for possible action. If the same doctor is in the military working in another state, "We don't do anything," said St.John of the state's licensing division. Salvador, who graduated from medical school in the Philippines, said the Air Force sometimes couldn't pay for courses doctors overseas needed to keep their licenses current. He said his problems began when the Air Force ordered him to work in the emergency room, moving him from an outpatient clinic where he saw patients with only minor illnesses. "They don't have any emergency room physicians," he said. "I was telling them I was not qualified to do the emergency." The Air Force, Salvador said, accused him in the deaths of two patients who had come to the clinic seeking his help. One died of a heart attack and the other died of a brain tumor. Salvador now works as a civilian doctor for a North Carolina military center that processes recruits.
next: Patients passed from doctor to doctor
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