Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Blog - Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP

Dr. Jayant Patel is a case in point that relatively few doctors are responsible for many of the serious errors leading to patient injuries. Dr. Patel received his early training overseas, but did intern work in New York before being granted a license to practice in the United States. He began to practice in New York, but was cited for "his moral unfitness to practice medicine," evidenced by his tendency to operate on patients without examining them. He then moved to Portland, where he was hired partly on the basis of recommendations from supervisors who knew him as an intern. While in Portland, his practice was increasingly restricted as a result of complaints and medical malpractice lawsuits. He was cited for "gross or repeated acts of negligence." At least three patients are reported to have died as a result of his gross negligence, but his license was not revoked, only restricted.

Patel then moved back to New York, and, with favorable letters of recommendation from doctors in Oregon, he secured employment at another hospital until 2001, when his license was revoked.

Then in 2003 he was hired by an Australian hospital on the basis of this curriculum vitae. Apparently, they did not check his service record, but instead promoted him to head of surgery. While in Australia, over 20 formal complaints were made against the doctor, and he is suspected of being responsible for as many as 87 patient deaths at the hospital. But instead of turning him over to the authorities, the hospital that employed him bought him a ticket back to the United States, again with a letter of endorsement. Finally, in the United States, he was arrested on 16 charges, including three counts of manslaughter.

You can read elsewhere about the botched surgeries he performed, but what I am interested in is how Dr. Patel was coddled from hospital to hospital with endorsements from his fellow doctors. It is a failure to supervise of the worst possible kind that doctors not only allowed him to continue practicing, but fostered his incompetence, leading to the suffering of thousands more individuals. If the medical profession will not police itself, someone else must step in.

You can be part of that policing mechanism. Medical malpractice lawsuits can lead to doctors' licenses being revoked or restricted. If you have suffered as a result of a doctor's negligence or gross incompetence, contact the experienced medical malpractice lawyers at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP, today for a free initial case evaluation.