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Healthcare scrambling to fill gap in patient services caused by doctor’s arrests
By Hempology | October 4, 2007
Cape Cod Times, MA
30 Sep 2007
Cynthia McCormick
THOUSANDS SEARCH FOR NEW DOCTORS
When Dr. Alfredo Gonzalez of Falmouth gave up his license to practice medicine after being arrested on marijuana charges earlier this month, he wasn’t alone.
Within the past year, the state Board of Registration in Medicine has ruled that two other Cape primary care physicians had to give up the privilege of practicing medicine because of criminal charges or professional missteps, and a Sandwich internist was convicted of drug and Medicaid fraud.
These turns of events have left thousands of patients searching for a new doctor at a time when there is a nationwide shortage of primary care physicians.
“I wouldn’t say it’s unusual,” said Russell Aims, spokesman for the Board of Registration in Medicine. “In a given year, we discipline between 70 to 80 doctors out of the 30,000 that are out there.”
But on the Cape, with its large population of senior citizens and traditional shortage of primary care physicians, each discipline affects hundreds of patients.
In July, Dr. Michael Brown, 53, was jailed after a jury found him guilty of prescribing narcotics for no medical purpose. His license had been suspended by the state Board of Registration in Medicine in 2005.
This spring, Dr. Ann Gryboski voluntarily suspended her license to practice after shooting her abusive husband to death. Last month, a grand jury declined to prosecute her and Gryboski said in an interview she planned to practice again.
In late September of last year, Dr. Neena Chaturvedi voluntarily gave up her license after patients complained to the state about lost medical records and other issues.
In another case, the board put Dr. Richard Smayda, formerly of Brewster Medical Associates, on probation late last year after he was accused of inappropriate conduct toward several female patients.
Both Gonzalez and Gryboski are employees of Cape Cod Healthcare Inc. and had a panel of about 2,000 patients each, said David Reilly, spokesman for Cape Cod Healthcare.
Gonzalez practiced at Bourne Internal Medicine in Bourne and Gryboski treated patients at Yarmouth Internists.
Dr. Neena Chaturvedi, and her husband, Dr. Rahul Chaturvedi, had a bustling practice at Physician Medical Centers in Hyannis, reporting up to 49,000 patient visits a year.
Although Rahul Chaturvedi has an active medical license, financial and legal problems are taking a toll on the practice, which declared bankruptcy last month. A PMC office worker said Rahul Chaturvedi would be working a reduced schedule.
Cape Cod Healthcare is scrambling to fill in the gap in patient services caused by Gryboski’s and Gonzalez’s arrests months apart, Reilly said.
“Our doctors and other providers have done a good job of pitching in and helping out with the patients,” Reilly said. He said some of Gonzalez’ patients will be able to see the other two doctors at Bourne Internal Medicine, while others will be matched up with other practices on the Upper Cape.
It has helped that Cape Cod Healthcare has been able to recruit eight new primary care physicians this year, with another two being expected to start work this fall, Reilly said.
But finding a new doctor is only part of the problem when one’s medical provider is accused of criminal or non-professional conduct, some say.
One former heroin addict who did not want to be named said he can’t find a physician to fill his prescription for the withdrawal medication suboxone now that Gonzalez has been arrested.
“We’re just stranded here. We’re in active withdrawal,” the man said. “We feel betrayed.”
Gonzalez was one of a handful of doctors on Cape Cod who prescribe suboxone. He also was director of inpatient treatment services at High Point, a treatment center in Plymouth for people with substance abuse problems, from February until his arrest, said Julie Lizotte, director of marketing and development at High Point.
Dr. Maryanne Bombaugh, president of the Barnstable Medical Society, said people should remember these cases involved a small percentage of the 449 physicians practicing on Cape Cod.
According to Reilly, 120 of them are primary care physicians.
“Most doctors are caring and competent,” Bombaugh said. “They are human beings.”
The state Board of Registration in Medicine’s role is to make sure that physicians are able to fulfill their great responsibilities to patients, said Dr. Dale Magee, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.
“It’s a role in society as well as a job,” Magee said.
June Allen Silvia of Wareham said she and her husband, Charles Silvia, plan to remain with Dr. Gonzalez if his license is re-instituted.
“He saved my husband’s life” by diagnosing a “silent heart attack,” she said. “I have nothing but good to say about Dr. Gonzalez. I feel if he didn’t have ‘doctor’ in front of his name, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.”
Troubled doctors
Dr. Michael Brown
The Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine summarily suspended the Sandwich physician’s license in 2005, saying the charges against Brown posed an immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare, said board spokesman Russell Aims.
Brown was convicted by Barnstable Superior Court of drug and fraud charges for writing bogus prescriptions in July.
Dr. Ann Gryboski
She voluntarily gave up her license to practice medicine after being arrested for shooting her husband, Patrick Lancaster of Barnstable, to death on Easter. Last month, a grand jury declined to indict her on manslaughter charges. Gryboski said she was a victim of domestic abuse and was badly bruised at the time of her arrest. An employee of Cape Cod Healthcare Inc. at Yarmouth Internists, she has said she is eager to get back to her practice. She must petition the Board of Registration in Medicine to reinstate her license, says board spokesman Russell Aims.
Dr. Alfredo Gonzalez
He voluntarily agreed not to practice medicine Sept. 14, Aims said. Gonzalez was arrested earlier this month after police seized what they said was $7,000 worth of marijuana plants and a large hydroponic growing apparatus from his home in Falmouth. Gonzalez is an employee of Cape Cod Healthcare Inc. at Bourne Internal Medicine in Bourne. Asked if Gonzalez was still drawing a salary, David Reilly, spokesman for Cape Cod Healthcare, said, “We do continue to support him.” After his arrest, Gonzalez was fired from his other job directing inpatient services at High Point, a substance abuse treatment center in Plymouth.
Dr. Neena Chaturvedi
She voluntarily agreed not to practice medicine Sept. 27, 2006, after the Board of Registration received 11 complaints about her practice, at least five of which concerned patient access to their medical records.
Dr. Richard Smayda
Late last year, the state Board of Registration in Medicine put him on probation after eight former female patients accused him of inappropriate conduct, which ranged from allegedly grabbing one patient’s buttocks to straddling another while she was lying down. Smayda, formerly of Brewster Medical Associates, was acquitted by an Orleans District Court jury in 2005 on charges he assaulted an 84-year-old female patient. The probation included having a board-approved chaperone present every time he saw a female patient.
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