Incompetent Doctor in Pennsylvania Practiced Despite Felony Convictions
Pa. let incompetent doctor continue practicing
Dr. Richard A. Brown, once an aspiring doctor from Phoenixville, PA, is now facing many legal problems, including falsifying credentials to obtain his medical license, writing illegal prescriptions, and tax evasion.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Brown either “resorted to legal action or squirmed through loopholes in regulations governing medical practice in Pennsylvania.”
He was arrested in 2001 for a felony drug charge, which resulted in 5 years’ probation and suspension of his medical license. However, he somehow continued to practice medicine and dispense narcotics. According to the article, because Pennsylvania is a weak state for disciplining doctors guilty of various crimes including medical malpractice in Pennsylvania, state regulators did not find out about Brown’s guilty plea.
After he was first arrested in December 2001 and charged with 106 counts of drug violations, he still continued to prescribe narcotics to known drug abusers.
Brown attended several universities and eventually did a clinical rotation at Lankenau Hospital in 1979, where he received a failing grade and critical reviews. He then sued the doctors and called their criticism “false and misleading.” However, a Montgomery county court judge ruled against Brown. The Drs’ opinions included statements such as “This man in my opinion should not practice medicine.”
Brown managed to graduate from American University of the Caribbean in 1980, however, prosecutors say he supplied the school with false evaluations that never occurred. In 1985 he passed the state licensing exam on the third attempt.
According to the article, there are no court records to indicate that Brown was inept. Brown was able to evade medical licensing requirements by using falsified documents and legal threats. State officials say there have been changes to the licensing regimen since the early 80’s that would prevent this kind of fraud. In the 80’s Brown only needed to pass one exam, whereas now he would need to pass three. Also, current regulations require foreign medical schools to certify all transcripts.
It took ten months after Brown’s drug conviction to lift his medical license. Sidney Wolfe, director of the Health Research group of the national consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said that his medical license should have been suspended days after the conviction.
”When it comes to disciplining doctors, Pennsylvania is one of the worst,” he said.
When a patient has been treated with substandard care by a doctor or healthcare provider and has suffered an injury or disability as a result, the patient has been the victim of medical malpractice. Misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, surgical errors, prescription drug errors, birth injuries, failure to treat diseases, delay in treatment, and negligence are just a few examples of medical malpractice. People of all ages are at risk for medical malpractice, including children, adults, and the elderly. If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice in Pennsylvania, please contact a Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorney at Cherry Fieger and Marciano, LLP today for a free consultation with a Philadelphia PA medical malpractice attorney.
