Call Kurtis

by Kurtis Ming
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ― With his drunk driving convictions, and struggles with the medical board it's a mystery how Dr. Brian West landed an officer's job at Travis Air Force Base working at the David Grant Medical Center. But we've learned Lt. Colonel Brian West is no longer with the Air Force, having been discharged in March after serving just two and a half years of his four-year commitment. The military refuses to say why he was released early, citing his privacy rights. So where did he land?

You may be surprised to know we found Dr. Brian West open for business again. In fact, he's practicing in Long Beach. He's a plastic surgeon at the Long Beach Surgical Institute where he's been treating patients for the past three months.

We found two potential patients, Peggy and Kelly who scheduled a joint consultation with Dr. West. They went in with a line of questions, and came out three hours later.

KURTIS: What did you guys think of him?
PEGGY: He was a down to earth nice guy, very likeable

They found him charming, but it didn't take long to detect lies.

"We specifically asked him if he had any lawsuits, in his history," says Peggy.

"He said yes he had one, and that he prevailed on that one," says Kelly.

Yet, we know of numerous malpractice filings, and three settlements. Becky Anderson says his malpractice insurance paid out a quarter million dollars. Peggy and Kelly also asked about his status with the medical board and were blown away by his answer.

"I never had my license my license revoked or suspended and 'I said has your license ever been in jeopardy?', and he said 'absolutely not'," says Peggy.

No mention he's currently on probation with the state over his alcohol problem.

"No mention whatsoever, matter of fact he says he wants to be a happy man at night. He wants to be able to sleep at night, so he's straightforward and meticulous and a perfectionist and he does great work," says Peggy.

"Yeah, well he's a liar, a bold faced liar," says Becky Anderson.

He claims he's never had to admit a patient to the hospital, yet Becky Anderson, Linda Starr and Ken's wife Sharon Mickulecky all spent time there recovering from massive infections.

When he was in the military, Travis Air Force Base says he was never allowed to touch patients.

"He told us, yes he was," says Peggy.

They say Dr. West claims he did face lifts, breast lifts and tummy tucks for military wives.

"I asked him twice. I said this is while you were at Travis Air Force Base, you actually performed surgery on the military wives and he said 'I did'," says Peggy.

When we informed the folks at Travis Air Force Base of what he's telling patients, they once again deny he ever treated anyone. We waited for Dr. West after work to see if he had an explanation for his answers. He ran from Kurtis and avoided his questions.

It wasn't until our investigation that the state medical board launched its own medical malpractice investigation into Dr. West. That was a year ago. But in February the statute of limitations ran out in the case of Linda Starr.

"I believe our investigators moved very quickly on this case," says Thornton.

"I can't handle the chemo anymore. It's just too hard," says Becky Anderson.

Battling stage four cancer, Becky Anderson is living off of her own prescription these days -- daily doses of laughter and family.

Despite being left disfigured she doesn't spend much time anymore thinking of Dr. West.

"Actually I do have to forgive him," she says. "If I didn't the anger would consume me, and I don't want all that hatred, all that anger."

Becky Anderson just hopes her story will wake up the medical board, doctors, and lawmakers.

"You tend to think doctors are gods, and they're not. We need to research them.... and doctors need to be more pro active and be aware of what colleagues are doing because all of this could've been avoided," says Anderson.

Dr. West is still practicing, and is still under investigation. Remember that state audit showing the failures of the diversion program? It caught the attention of lawmakers. They've told the medical board to fix the program by July of next year, or it's going away forever. Right now, there are more than 300 doctors still in diversion.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)