Pubdate: Sun, 10 Aug 2003
Source: Macon Telegraph (GA)
Copyright: 2003 The Macon Telegraph Publishing Company
Contact:  http://www.macontelegraph.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/667
Author: Andy Peters

SOME CRITICAL OF TIMELINE IN GREEN CASE

ATLANTA - As details emerge from the case of Houston County physician
Spurgeon Green Jr., some Middle Georgians are wondering why it took
the state so long to suspend Green's right to practice medicine.

Green was charged July 22 with felony murder in connection with the
April death of Jesup resident David Barbari. His state medical license
was suspended three days later, July 25.

But Green, a pain specialist, had been under suspicion by Houston
County law enforcement officials as early as 2001. And according to
state documents, seven patients have died since 2000 while under the
care of Green as a result of overdosing on drugs he prescribed.

"Why did they wait until after he was charged with murder to take away
his license?" said Macon resident Gilbert Held, who filed an official
complaint in 2001 with the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners
regarding medical treatment of his wife. Green was not involved in
that complaint, but Held is critical of how the state board responded.
"This is really terrible the way they operate."

Macon attorney O. Hale Almand Jr., who is representing Green, said
Green did not prescribe any medications in an improper manner. Almand
said doctors cannot control whether a patient abuses prescribed drugs
and subsequently overdoses. Also, about 30 people, including a couple
dozen of Green's patients, turned out to support the doctor at his
bond hearing July 30. Many said they trust Green and don't believe he
has done anything wrong.

But others say that if the state had evidence that questioned Green's
practices, the state should have acted faster.

"It is simply unacceptable to allow a doctor to kill four, five or six
patients before the licensing folks begin to do their job," said Macon
attorney Carl Reynolds. "The (medical board) ought to stop worrying
about protecting their doctor colleagues and start protecting the
patients of this state."

Not just Georgia, but many states act too slowly in stripping the
medical licenses of physicians who harm their patients, according to
the Washington-based watchdog group Public Citizen.

"A chronic problem around the country is that there is a dangerously
long period of time between an initial, second or third complaint and
the time some action is taken," said Sidney Wolfe, director of medical
research for Public Citizen.

"Medical boards in too many cases are very, very slow. They're more
concerned about protecting the reputations of doctors than doing their
job," Wolfe said.

There is evidence that some Georgia officials were investigating Green
before the death of Barbari. In January, agents with the Georgia
Bureau of Investigation, as well as the Houston County Sheriff's
Office and Houston County District Attorney's Office, raided Green's
Warner Robins home and Perry office. Houston County sheriff's Capt.
Harry Enckler said his office had been investigating Green's practice
since 2001.

But the state medical-licensing board won't say if they had received
complaints about Green.

"We can't confirm or deny that we would have had complaints prior to
the suspension of Green's license," said LaSharn Hughes, interim
executive director of the board.

Despite the law enforcement investigation of Green's practice, the
Composite State Board of Medical Examiners may simply have been
unaware of the situation. Since 1992, the board levied no disciplinary
action against Green, according to state documents.

"It's understandable if this is the first time they've heard something
about this doctor," Wolfe said. "For someone who has severe,
intractable pain, it's cruel not to medicate them adequately. Giving
enough pain meds to someone who's suffering is a good idea."

Or, it could be a matter of incompetence on the state's end, said
Held, who said the state board lost records related to a problem his
wife had with treatment in Macon. He wants the governor's office or
the General Assembly to have closer oversight of the Composite State
Board of Medical Examiners.

"Too much gets lost and they apparently have a see-no-evil,
hear-no-evil attitude," Held said. "If you go into a hospital for a
broken pinkie, and they cut off your thumb, if you want to sue the
doctor who did that, you'd have to get another doctor to testify for
you. And most doctors are very unwilling to testify against another
doctor."
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