It is not my intention to cause hard feelings but to give information so good decisions can be made. A google search or a search of the Calif Medical Board may give you more information.

You have come here for information and support. If I knew this information and didn't tell you it would bother me.
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Friday, September 12, 2003

Oc Register

Neurosurgery chief Chambi suspended

Western Medical Center takes action against doctor with long history of malpractice suits.

By CHRIS KNAP, BERNARD WOLFSON, and WILLIAM HEISEL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The chief of neurosurgery at Western Medical Center Santa Ana, a major center for head trauma in Orange County, has been suspended from clinical practice by top officials at his hospital.

The exact reason for the Wednesday night action by the hospital's Medical Executive Committee was not made public Thursday. Dr. Israel Chambi Venero has been accused repeatedly of malpractice, unnecessary surgery and incompetence - all of which were detailed in an Orange County Register investigation in May.

Hospital spokesman David Langness said the results of the hospital's investigation will be sent to the Medical Board of California, as required by state law.

Chambi's suspension comes at a time when the hospital's parent company, Tenet Healthcare, is under investigation by multiple federal agencies examining allegations of illegal kickbacks to doctors and unnecessary operations by high-volume surgeons. Last week, the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance said it, too, is investigating Tenet, and it told the company to hand over any documents regarding its relationship with Chambi.

After a full investigation, the Medical Staff Executive Committee (MEC) of Western Medical Center Santa Ana voted to summarily suspend Dr. Israel Chambi’s clinical privileges effective September 10, 2003. The summary suspension shall remain in effect until Dr. Chambi fully meets numerous conditions set forth by the MEC

Chambi would not comment. His attorney, Michael Zuk, said he was surprised by the hospital's action.

"That's the first I've heard of it," Zuk said. "Dr. Chambi has gotten nothing from the hospital."

The hospital committee set out conditions that could allow Chambi to return eventually. However, one medical expert said the conditions can be so onerous - involving extensive medical and ethical retraining - that doctors seldom come back.

Western Medical Center has hired a professional search firm to find another neurosurgeon for the hospital. In the meantime, trauma coverage at the hospital is being handled by other doctors.

In the Register's stories, patients and their families described how Chambi persuaded them or their loved ones to undergo brain or spinal surgery that left them severely disabled. In some cases, other doctors reviewed the records and suggested surgeries should not have been performed.

Chambi has been sued 36 times for malpractice or wrongful death since 1992. He won most of the lawsuits. But 10 patients obtained verdicts or settlements totaling $3 million. Four cases are pending. Chambi also lost his teaching post at UCI after doctors there accused him of incompetence and poor judgment.

But Western Medical Center, the flagship Orange County hospital for the Tenet Healthcare chain, made Chambi chief of neurosurgery in 1998.

On Thursday, former Chambi patients and other neurosurgeons applauded the action by the hospital but said it came much too late.

"It should have been done a long time ago," said Tim Kling of Fullerton, whose mother, Frances, suffered permanent brain damage after an operation by Chambi. "Too many people suffered because of him."

A Register analysis of public records found that Western Medical billed $38 million for neurosurgeries in 2000 and had the highest per-patient charges in Southern California.

"The action by the hospital's medical executive committee is certainly appropriate in the context of the numerous well-documented deficiencies of Dr. Chambi over several years," said Dr. James Doty, a San Francisco neurosurgeon who has reviewed a number of Chambi's cases and is scheduled to testify against him in a trial this year.

"It is unfortunate that the peer-review system requires a major investigation by a news organization before such action is instituted," Doty said. "The delay only confirms my belief that major financial producers for a hospital are not closely scrutinized."

A letter to Trevor Fetter, Tenet's acting CEO, from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, shows scrutiny is coming. He asked for documents pertaining to Chambi's compensation; office space, equipment or services provided to him by Tenet; and any reports or audits of him, including anything "regarding unnecessary medical surgeries and procedures at Western Medical Center."

The committee has oversight for Medicare and Medicaid. The federal government warned Tenet last week that Redding Medical Center could be kicked out of Medicare.

"The investigation itself, though focused primarily on the Redding facility, is really a broad-brush look at Tenet and its corporate governance practices," said Jill Gerber, Grassley's spokeswoman. "The situation with Dr. Chambi presents another hospital under Tenet's control where similar allegations have been made.

"Senator Grassley is particularly concerned about the type of peer review Tenet is doing or not doing and whether the company is prohibiting the peer review of these doctors with the goal of keeping them in place and keeping their high billing practices for the company."

Langness, the spokesman for Tenet, said the company follows the law with regard to physician payments.

"We have a team of attorneys who make sure any payments to physicians are within the law," Langness said.

Added Zuk, the attorney for Chambi: "The U.S. Senate is fishing for financial inducements, but Dr. Chambi doesn't have any. They never gave him a penny. They are looking for stuff like that, but none of it exists."

Zuk also said he received a notice from the Medical Board dated Sept. 2 saying that its investigation of Chambi was completed and that there would be no further action.

But Candace Cohen, a spokeswoman for the board, said Thursday that Chambi remains under investigation and that the board will scrutinize closely what it's sent by Western Medical Center's doctors.

"If information is brought to our attention that a physician is an imminent danger to the public, we will seek an interim suspension of his license."

CONTACT US: (714) 796-2240 or cknap@ocregister.com