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Call Kurtis Investigation: Addicted Doctors

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Dec 19, 2007 7:31 pm US/Pacific

Call Kurtis Investigation: Addicted Doctors

Reporting
Kurtis Ming

A Call Kurtis Investigation uncovered that doctors can keep their addictions a secret from patients, a policy that The California Medical Association and the American Medical Association supports.

Becky Anderson is one of several patients who say former Sacramento area doctor, Brian West, botched their operations.   She now lives with her intestines on the outside of her body, covered by a skin graft.

None of his patients had any idea he battled an alcohol addiction or had drunk-driving arrests.  None knew Dr. West was enrolled in the California Medical Board's confidential rehab program, called "Diversion."  He eventually flunked out.

Years later, Anderson, who Dr. West paid $250,000 in a settlement, is dying of cancer.   She says patient safety is more important than a doctor's privacy.  "I don't understand why the medical board is there, to protect the doctor or the patient"  Anderson told CBS 13.

Most states have a secretive program that allows doctors to continue practicing, as long as they stick with treatment.  One estimate shows that as many as 8,000 doctors across the country may be enrolled in one of those programs right now.

CBS13 was at a Medical Board hearing in South San Francisco in July when a number of Dr. West's patients and Anderson's sister asked the board to get rid of the Diversion program.  

Linda Starr of Lincoln, who says West left her with a massive flesh eating infection testified,  "Make it so no other patients are harmed like me".

Patient Tina Minasian of Citrus Heights says Dr. West stitched her up so tight she couldn't move. 

She testified, "Patients can't protect themselves from physicians in the program because they don't know who is in the program."

During that meeting, the board voted unanimously to get rid of California's 27-year-old program.   

"Mission accomplished", said Minasian. 

The move outraged many in the medical community across the country. Diversion program supporters like the California Medical Association and the American Medical Association are concerned if doctors don't have a confidential place to go, they will not get the help they need.

 James Hay, with the California Medical Association, said "If you don't deal with it, I believe the patients of California will be at greater risk of harm than if you do deal with it."

California's Diversion program is scheduled to end on June 30, 2008.   The California Medical Board is holding a summit in Sacramento on January 24, 2008 to determine how to handle doctors with addictions.  Unless the board adopts a new program, the state will go to a zero tolerance policy; that would mean if a doctor is found to have an addiction, they could lose their license to practice.

Dr. Brian West is still practicing in Southern California.  According to his own web site, the board certified plastic surgeon works for The Plastic Surgery Institute of Beverly Hills. 

The Medical Board and the Attorney General's office filed a formal complaint against West in February to revoke his license for gross negligence in the way he treated several patients. Ten months after that filing, and two years after we first aired our investigation, he still has not had a hearing in those cases.

Call Kurtis Investigation Links

State Complaints & Decisions Against Dr. Brian West

State Decision On West's Lying About Drinking
Nov 15, 2005

Formal Complaint On Patient Injuries
February 26, 2007

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