Obstetrician's malpractice history stretches to Texas
Years ago, under the title "Mangled Baby, Mangled Law," Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) took aim at a Winchester obstetrician suspended Wednesday by the Bay State's medical licensing board.
On its Web site, the advocacy group, self-described as a non-partisan, non-profit policy and research organization which tracks the influence of money and corporate power in Texas politics, details the courtroom saga spawned after the tragic birth of the Agbor family's baby 18 years ago.
In 1990, Dr. Suzanne B. Rothchild, now residing in Winchester and formerly affiliated with Winchester Hospital, served as the Texas family's obstetrician.
"Dr. Suzanne Rothchild delivered the Agbor family's baby with a permanently disabled arm in 1990," the TPJ posting begins. "The parents filed a malpractice suit against the doctor and Houston's St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. They accused the hospital of negligently giving staff privileges to a doctor who had been sued repeatedly and who lacked proper malpractice insurance."
On Wednesday, the Mass. Board of Registration in Medicine temporarily suspended Rothchild's license.
The board then released a statement regarding its decision.
"The Board has alleged that Dr. Rothchild provided substandard care to several patients … however, the Board became aware of another incident … and today concluded that Dr. Rothchild should be removed from practice immediately."
Rothchild has been licensed to practice medicine in Massachusetts since 1976. She has a private practice at 400 West Cummings Parks in Woburn and had admitting privileges at Winchester Hospital.
Slow to Report
The board reviewed nine patient complaints, each alleging a separate history of inadequate medical care delivered by Rothchild. Court documents tied to the case also allege she practiced medicine in the Bay State, for a significant stretch of time, without mandatory levels of malpractice insurance.
Russ Aims, a spokesman for the board, suggested Winchester Hospital may not have followed legal protocol when it waited nearly nine months to inform the agency of the most recent patient complaint pending against the doctor. The hospital had 30 days to report the complaint.
Aims said the most recent incident involved "Patient I" (the pseudonym given to the patient in court records - the documents detail the complaints of patients "A" through "I"), and occurred on March 10, 2007.
"And the hospital didn't report [the incident] to us until Jan. 28 of this year," Aims explained. "Clearly there needs to be closer communication from Winchester Hospital, while working with us, so that the hospital understands its responsibilities and meets them."
Hospital officials contend that they were conducting their own investigation into the incident and reported their findings as soon as the investigation concluded and resulted in disciplinary action.
Lone Star Connection
Aims confirmed that Rothchild was "previously licensed in Texas."
Jill Wiggins, spokeswoman for the Texas Medical Board, said Rothchild's license to practice in Texas was canceled in 1994 for non-payment.
Rothchild had been licensed there from Aug. 27, 1978, until the license was canceled on Feb. 1, 1994.
But Wiggins' files do not include any official disciplinary action taken against the doctor.
"[There is] nothing in the public record that indicates she had any disciplinary action," Wiggins said. "But complaints not subject to disciplinary action are confidential by statute. She doesn't have a Texas license [now], and the [Massachusetts medical board decision] could certainly impact her should she ever come back to Texas. If she applied, we would have to look at her history. If her Massachusetts license is still suspended, then we would not be able to license her."
Rothchild practiced obstetrics in Houston, and was affiliated with the city's St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. The hospital was named as a co-defendant in the Agbor family's malpractice lawsuit.
The family's attorney, Phillip A. Pfeifer, would not comment on the most recent developments concerning Rothchild, but provided the Texas State Supreme Court's published opinions on the case.
Pfeifer argued the case all the way to the Supreme Court between 1994 and 1997.
Ultimately, the Agbors' malpractice case failed. After the decision, Texans for Public Justice picked up the ball, blaming widespread political corruption for the suit's failure.
Pfeifer had argued that patients should be able to sue a hospital for "granting staff privileges to reckless doctors," according to the Texans for Public Justice Web site.
"This question turned on the Texas Medical Practice Act (TMPA)," argued the Texan advocacy group. "The TMPA was passed to stop hospitals and their medical review committees from being sued by doctors who are denied hospital staff privileges because they are deemed unsafe."
'Bad Doctors'