Australia's 'Dr. Death'
linked to 87  fatalities

BRISBAND, Australia - A doctor turned off a woman’s life support ventilator in an Australian hospital because the director of surgery, dubbed "Dr. Death," wanted her bed to operate on another patient, an investigation finds.

The surgeon, Jayant "Jay" Patel, 56, is the subject of an official inquiry in the Australian state of Queensland examining why the doctor was permitted to practice medicine in 2003 despite a nearly 20-year history of criticism and sanctions imposed by medical authorities in Oregon and New York as a result of his work practices.

Glowing references
Patel had been given glowing references by six colleagues in the United States despite having been cited for negligence there earlier, according to copies of the references obtained by The Associated Press.

Patel, who was educated in India and completed his residency in New York state, was first cited in 1984 by New York health officials for failing to examine patients before surgery.

He moved to Oregon in 1989 and began working for the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Portland, Ore.

After reviewing 79 of his cases, Kaiser restricted Patel’s practice in 1998, banning him from doing certain types of operations — such as liver and pancreatic surgeries — and forcing him to seek a second opinion in complicated cases.

After reviewing four of those cases, in which three patients died, the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners made Patel’s restriction statewide in September 2000, and New York health officials forced him to surrender his license in April 2001. He was hired in Australia in 2003.

Nurses hid patients from Patel
Patel was director of surgery at Queensland’s regional Bundaberg Hospital in 2003-04, despite negligence findings against him in the two U.S. states that resulted in restrictions on his U.S. medical license.

Patel left Australia in March, 2005. His whereabouts are unknown. He has not commented on the allegations and has no legal representation at the inquiry.

Bundaberg Hospital’s head intensive care nurse, Toni Hoffman, told the inquiry in the city of Brisbane on Tuesday that hospital staff had tried to hide patients from Patel, whom they nicknamed “Dr. Death” because of his botched surgeries.

“All the nurses in intensive care were seeing these patients dying every day and we couldn’t do anything,” Hoffman told the inquiry according to transcripts available on Wednesday.

“We’d taken to hiding patients. We just thought 'What on earth can we do to stop this man,' she said.

MORE FROM HEALTH CARE

Health care Section Front

Tough choices on abortion coverage Few Americans make end-of-life wishes known Sources: Reid eyes payroll tax rise on high earners How would the House abortion limits work? Bill Clinton urges passage of health care bill GOP lawmaker feels effects of health vote Abortion could roil Senate health care debate Advice for Obama: Knock heads on health care Rough road ahead for health care in Senate Ailing ‘uninsurables’ may face long wait for care Health care Section Front   Add Health care headlines to your news reader: