NYC NOW - Imminent Danger Ep 3: One Doctor and a Trail of Injured Women

Episode Date: October 21, 2023

Episode 3: The GatekeepersMarquita Baird has kept a bootbox full of medical records on a shelf in her home in Shawnee, Oklahoma for over two decades in the hope that, someday, someone would ask about what happened after an OB-GYN named Thomas J. Byrne performed a hysterectomy on her in 1999. Shawnee was one of several areas where Byrne would practice in the years after losing his medical license in New York. In Episode 3: The Gatekeepers, we examine the responsibility that state medical boards have in keeping doctors with a history of bad outcomes from treating patients. And we speak with the executive directors of the New Mexico and Oklahoma medical boards, both of which granted Byrne licenses after he lost the ability to practice in New York.Hear our earlier episodes:Episode 1: Wrongful DeathEpisode 2: License Revoked

Good morning. It's Saturday, October 21st. Welcome to NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre. Every Saturday for the last few weeks, we've been releasing a new episode of our five-part series called Imminent Danger, One Doctor and A Trail of Injured Women, produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Today we have the third episode, and if you haven't checked out the first two, we highly suggest you do that. Here's Christopher Worth, the investigative editor at at WMYC and Gothamist. Previously, uneminent danger, we heard how an OBGYN named Thomas Byrne

lost his medical license in New York in the early 90s after being found negligent by state authorities. I remember saying to the nurses who were there, my peers, saying, do you all understand that this did not have to happen? This was preventable. If you're a physician and lose your license,

nobody wants you. The lawyers will say we don't want the liability of dealing with someone who was a physician and lost their license. In this episode, The Gatekeepers. Our reporter Karen Chkirji takes a close look at what happened after Byrne left New York to continue practicing in other states, New Mexico and then Oklahoma, where more malpractice suits were filed against him. Just a heads up, this episode includes a detailed description of medical injuries. Here's Karen. As part of my attempt to learn more about Dr. Thomas Byrne, I've reached out to all kinds of people, ex-wives, former colleagues, office assistants, doctors who spoke out about him decades ago.

I've also tried to track down every single patient who filed a lawsuit against him, 23 cases, claims that span from 1989 to 2021. Because every time I talk to someone who knew him or interacted with him, I learned something more, something new that gives me some insight into how Byrne has continued practicing. And there was one patient in particular, Marquita Baird, who helped me start to see a pattern forming. She got back to me right away when I reached out, the day my letter arrived at her house. Oh, I stood up and went, yes. Even though it has been more than 20 years since Dr. Byrne did surgery on Marquita,

It was almost like she'd been waiting for someone to call her up and ask what happened that day in 1999. I don't want to see this happen to a young woman who's got the rest of her life to have been able to enjoy. I'm doing this for the benefit of female humanity, I guess. Marquita lives in a small city in Oklahoma called Shawnee. It's about an hour's drive from Oklahoma City, surrounded by open field, schools, casinos, churches, and reservations. About six years after New York took away Burns' medical license, he started practicing there at a rural hospital nearby called Seminole Medical Center.

Marquita has kept records in a bootbox up on the top shelf of a closet in her guest room. 590 pages, doctor's notes, court records, detailed nurse logs. So what I'm about to tell you is based on those documents. I held on to these records all this time. I always knew somebody somewhere was going to get in touch with me someday because of what he did to me. The whole thing started back when Marquita was 37 years old. She went to see Dr. Byrne because she had something called polycystic ovarian syndrome. My ovaries and fallopian tubes were just covered.

in cysts, and I did not intend to have any more children ever. And the only answer they had was to do a hysterect me. Dr. Byrne removed her uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. And he kept pretty detailed notes, including that he was, quote, concerned about injury to the bladder or urators. But he also noted that her urine eventually cleared up and was totally normal. Uridors, by the way, are the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder. Three days after the surgery, he discharged Marquita.

In her records, he wrote, quote, there were no operative complications. But she went back to the hospital the very next day. Her medical records say her abdominal wall was swelling, and by her account, a lot. Everything was swollen. I was in so much pain. and bleeding, and I couldn't pee. About two weeks after the surgery, she went back to the hospital again

and still couldn't urinate. Byrne noted she had gained 18 pounds in just 11 days. So what was going through your head? I had absolutely no idea what he had done to me. I expected a hysterectomy, but I did not expect my stomach to be poached out like I was nine months pregnant. And yes, I did.

I looked like I was nine months pregnant. Eventually, Marquita saw another doctor, a urologist at another hospital who determined what was wrong. According to her medical records, one of her ureters and bladder were injured. I was, quite frankly, peeing into my stomach. Over the next six months, Marquita would need to have a series of medical procedures.

She had stents put in to help urine make it intercourse. her bladder. She says the whole experience took a serious toll on her. The constant back and forth having to have the minor surgeries. I mean, it was an ordeal. Marquita sued Dr. Byrne and the hospital Seminole Medical Center. She claimed that Dr. Byrne negligently performed the hysterectomy on her. Five more women would sue him for procedures he did while he practiced at Seminole and at another hospital close by. This was work he did in a span of just four years, including one patient who alleged that after doing a hysterectomy, he left a foreign object inside of her body, which caused her severe injuries. That case settled, but the others were dismissed. Burn eventually left

the area and started working at another hospital a few hours away. Marquita's attorneys dropped the case because she and her husband at the time hadn't filed their taxes for several years, and they didn't think that would look good in front of a jury. As she sees it, justice was never served. With every inch of my being, I would like to see this man's, if he is trying to practice, be dismissed forever, just take his license away from him and don't let him practice anywhere. That last thing, Marquita said, about not letting him practice.

That's actually something that all the former patients and family members I've spoken with, more than a dozen people, have communicated to me in one way or another, that somebody needs to stop him. The only entity that has the power to give or take away a doctor's license is a state medical board. There are actually 70 of them in the country, by the way. Some states have two, one for physicians with MDs and one for osteopaths. The boards are the traffic cops standing at the intersection of which doctors can come and which have to go. They are also responsible for investigating doctors who, for whatever reason, may need to be reprimanded. Medical boards have continued to give Dr. Byrne licenses despite his track record, which raises what seems like an obvious question. How exactly do medical boards vet doctors?

Coming up. I was thinking, how did he end up in Oklahoma? How did he end up here? How did we end up with him? All right. So, Karen, you just told us about this string of malpractice lawsuits in this small town outside Oklahoma City, including Marquita Bairds. Yes. You mentioned that Dr. Byrne had left the hospital where she was treated.

Where did he end up after that? Well, what I know from the records is that. that he started practicing at a new hospital by 2005. The hospital was called Craig General at the time. And it was located in the northeast corner of Oklahoma. So about an hour out from Tulsa in this small city called Veneta, which is located in the Cherokee Nation. My first impression was grateful that we had an O.B.G.N.,

because rural areas, it's sometimes difficult. to recruit providers. I spoke with a woman named Robin Kemp. She was the director of nursing at Craig General Hospital when Byrne worked there. And initially, she was happy. They had an OBGYN, but that feeling of being grateful changed somewhat quickly. It was probably within the first six months. There's just things that he did or said that just seemed odd.

Robin would eventually be one of several Craig General staff opposed in lawsuits against Dr. Byrne, most of which also named the hospital. One patient claimed that while she was having a routine procedure done, Dr. Byrne tied her fallopian tubes without her consent. Her case eventually settled. This is all part of what I've come to think of as a second cluster of cases. in Oklahoma that I'll tell you about more in the next episode. Robin told me this kind of pattern of multiple cases was very unusual.

Do you remember what you were thinking as some of the information was coming out about these various cases? I was thinking, how did he end up in Oklahoma? How did he end up here? How did we end up with him? I was angry. How did Oklahoma let him have a license? Why? What have you managed to learn about what the medical boards in Oklahoma or New Mexico, for that matter, knew about the track record that you've been reporting on before they decided to give him a medical license? Yeah, so to me, that was the key question here. What did they know? Because one of the things I've learned is that Dr. Byrne, hadn't disclosed information about his history when he first applied for a medical license in New York. The state's investigation in the early 90s found he hadn't disclosed that he'd been reprimanded by the North Carolina Medical Board years earlier for administering ketamine to a patient when he wasn't

supposed to, and then omitting that from the patient's medical record. So I tried to find out what these other medical boards did know. So first things first, can you just introduce yourself? My name is Amanda Kintana, and I am the interim executive director for the New Mexico Medical Board. New Mexico was the first state to grant a license about a year after New York revoked his license there. I just want to be clear, though, that Amanda wasn't working at the medical board at the time. So she was learning about Byrne as we talked through some of the records that the board had shared with me. So, I mean, I do know that the board licensed him as an MD in 1992.

We first talked about what I mentioned in the last episode, the fact that Byrne got a medical license, then a resident license, which is what doctors typically have when they're in training. I don't know the reason for him having a resident license in the middle of his MD licensure. Is that unusual? It's a little unusual. Yeah, it's a little unusual. But there was one document in particular I wanted to ask Amanda about that I think gets at your question about, you know, what did New Mexico know about? about Burns' history. Mm-hmm.

So, yeah, just tell me the page number. It's a letter written by the New Mexico Medical Board about Burns' application. Page 209. 209. Okay. Mm-hmm. And it explicitly states the board thoroughly reviewed all of his records, including the complete history of proceedings in New York and North Carolina.

In reference to times during the application process, the bar, thoroughly reviewed. But then it goes on to say he completed an extensive continuing education program in New York State during the time when the board was reviewing his credentials. The board was satisfied that Dr. Byrne possessed the integrity and competency to practice medicine in New Mexico. Oh, there you have it. Do you have a question about that letter? I mean, my question is, you know, that the letter are clearly, acknowledges that the board was aware of what happened in New York.

And I think a lot of people might be surprised to learn that the board was aware and continued with the granting of the license. Yeah, I'm also surprised. Again, way before my time, our board does not, this wouldn't happen currently. Why wouldn't this happen today, but it would happen back. then. I couldn't tell you. I wasn't around back then. Yeah. I mean, what do you make of this letter? Well, I'm just exactly what it says. I actually, you know what? I don't, I'm a little bit, can we stop this interview, please?

I need to, I need to, yes, please. I want to get the full file and I can answer. questions via email. Okay. I did send Amanda a few more questions after we spoke, but she wrote back saying that she didn't have any further comment. This was one of my first cases that I was aware of. I also spoke with the executive director of the Oklahoma State Medical Board, Lyle Kelsey. He started just before Dr. Byrne got a license there.

So you've been there for a while now. Yes. Yes, I have. 26, going on 27 years. I managed to get some records from Oklahoma as well, and what those records show is that the board initially denied Dr. Burns' application. Can you tell me a little bit about the concerns? I think there were some questionable things on his application

that kind of started our concern about his practice patterns and so on. But then just four months later, the board reversed that decision and granted him a license. Is it fairly common to have a license denied and then granted a handful of months later? No, it's not common. Denials are pretty rare. Who exactly sits on state medical boards, like the one that you're talking about here? Yeah, so Lyle as executive director, he runs the medical board's operations. It's the board members who make the licensing decisions.

And, yeah, typically medical boards are made up of mostly practicing doctors. They're often appointed by the governor, but it can vary state by state. Most also have some people who aren't doctors also who are referred to as public members or lay people. And were you able to find out anything about what that board based its decision on? Yeah, according to the records the board shared with me, Byrne submits new evidence, mostly letters from other doctors in New Mexico vouching for him,

but also one from William Grant. He was the person who oversaw that educational program Byrne did in upstate New York that I told you about in the last episode. Yeah. The medical board did set some, conditions for Dr. Byrne's license. They required monthly reports about all surgical procedures that he did and that other doctors would review his charts.

But after a while, Byrne asked for those conditions to be lifted, and they were. So about a year later, the members of the board allowed him to practice without any of those conditions. It sounds like it's really the doctors. that have the power to make a decision about who is getting a license and who is not? Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, something I've come across over and over again is that there are some questions about that power that medical boards have and whether they do enough. For example, one report from the organization Public Citizen found that more than half of doctors,

nationwide, who've had privileges suspended or revoked by hospitals, didn't face any actions from medical boards. A number of people have told me that medical boards don't always work in the public's best interest, that in part because it's physicians who are regulating their peers in some ways, that there's like an inherent conflict of interest there. I don't think there is. I think the board members take it very serious. They treat other doctors with problems tougher than I thought they would many, many times.

But, you know, there always could be examples of that going on. You know, given the number of malpractice cases that have been filed against Byrne, I wondered how boards keep tabs and doctors after they grant licenses. And what I learned is that doctors do have to renew medical licenses every few years and answer a series of questions, including ones about malpractice claims. And I've seen some of Burns applications, which I got from Oklahoma. And what those show is that there are some discrepancies between what's on his renewal applications and what's in the court. records that I have. How does the board make sure that what the physician is submitting is accurate?

Well, you don't know. Do we hope that the doctors do the right thing? Absolutely. But we also know that they're just like the general population, too. I mean, they can tell lies and be dishonest as well. We license almost 30,000. licensees in 14 different professions and you know somewhere you have to hope that they're all being honest when they renew their license and answer questions do you

do you think that hope is enough when it comes to a profession of people who are taking care of patients does that does that work out okay well I I I'm not sure what your question is. Of course, you recognize that it's a learned profession, highly educated people, and you would presume by that that these people would be honest and forthright in answering questions. And occasionally, we may find out that somebody has lied on their application, and that becomes then a fraudulent application. But I don't think there's anything wrong with hope.

Is something I'm curious about, you mentioned that medical boards, they don't just license doctors. They discipline them too, right? Yeah, that's right. They're responsible for both things, licensing, but also investigating doctors and then disciplining them. Was Byrne ever disciplined in Oklahoma or in New Mexico, as far as you can tell? No, neither New Mexico nor Oklahoma disciplined him. And during the time he practiced in both states, in all 14 times. patients filed lawsuits against him for alleged malpractice. Seven of those settled. The other

half were dismissed. One hospital temporarily suspended his privileges, but nothing, as far as I can tell, happened to his medical licenses. All of this is part of why I've come to think of medical boards as just one part of this whole world of patient safety and doctor discipline. Because there is so much that goes on at the hospital level or in a doctor's office that might never rise to the attention of a medical board unless someone wants it to. The license is just do you meet the requirements to get a license in a state? And once you get that, it's pretty hard to monitor. You hope that, and there's that hope again, you hope that hospitals are doing their part to monitor and make sure that Their doctors are doing well and performing up to certain standards and requirements.

I saw this all very clearly when I started to really dig into what went on with the staff and patients at the new hospital Burn had moved on to near Tulsa. And generally speaking, the power that hospitals have to keep things quiet. In our next episode, how the staff at one hospital began to be able to. to keep tabs on Dr. Byrne. If Oklahoma would give him a license, then the only people to stop him were us. I mean, the damage was done, and thank God I survived. I just wanted him stopped.

I wanted him to lose his license and not be able to practice, which apparently didn't happen. Imminent danger, one doctor in a trail of injured women was reported by Karen Chakurgy and edited by me, Christopher Worth. It was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. Our executive producer is Ave Curio. We had additional editing by Sikhan Akpan, Stephanie Clary, and Sean Boutich. Ethan Corey is our researcher and fact checker. Jared Paul is our sound engineer. He also

wrote our theme music. We had additional reporting and producing from Jacqueline Jeffrey Wilenski, Owen Agnew, and Catherine Roberts. Special thanks in this episode. Go to Dr. Humayan Chowdry, Rob Christensen, Dan Epstein. Ruth Horowitz, Joe Nicram, Dr. Catherine Kula, Dr. Benedict Landrin, Dr. Christopher Roy, Maggie Stapleton, Nadia Sawicki, and Gina Vosti. Thanks for listening. Be sure to check out NYC now every Saturday morning for the next two weeks to hear the conclusion of imminent danger. Trust me, it's worth it. I'm Jenae Pierre, and we'll be back with the local news and headlines first thing Monday morning. Until then, have a great weekend.