State revokes medical license

Lee Anne Tippett

A Clayton, Ga. physician implicated in the death of a Franklin woman has continued to face problems in Georgia – a fact he says is a targeted attack by the medical system. Through that process he has been tied to Franklin physician Dr. Miles Hyman, a fact Hyman said is a mistake.

The family of LeaAnne Tippett is in the process of mediation with Dr. Daniel Katz after the death of the 31-year-old in December 2004; about one month after his medical license was suspended. No lawsuit has been filed at this time.

Prior to her death, the pain management physician’s Georgia medical license was temporarily suspended, and two weeks ago, the license was again revoked – both instances tied to misuse of prescribing and using controlled substances – specifically oxycodone and oxymorphine.

“There were some minor prescription irregularities [in 2004], but nothing major – no oxycodone or valium or anything,” Katz said.

He said he has been unfairly attacked because he is an outsider and Jewish. What started as a problem with the Rabun medical staff has escalated into a battle with the state board. Tippett’s death was not the issue in either 2004 or last month, but he said the litigation is likely what prompted the board to investigate him again.

Clayton lawyer and Franklin native Michael Cummings II said Tippett’s death was an avoidable tragedy.

“In short? He performed a procedure in his office that should have taken place in a hospital setting,” Cummings said. “Without the proper equipment to resuscitate her, when a problem arose, the patient died. “

Cummings said under Katz’s care, Tippett was administered a numbing medication called marcaine. The injection should have been administered into her neck, in the epidural space in her spinal column.

The injection was improperly placed creating what Cummings referred to as a “full spinal” – paralyzing everything from the neck down, including Tippett’s heart and lungs. Without oxygen and without a heartbeat, she entered into cardiac arrest and her brain was unable to function.

“When EMS arrived, she was lying in the floor. I don’t know how long she had been there, but EMS personnel said according to their records, he had not performed any resuscitation,” Cummings said.

Katz said he regrets what happened to Tippett.

“My heart goes out to the Tippett family. She was a very nice girl and I regret what happened to her,” he said.

Katz said he has never had a lawsuit in the last 28 years, but that at the time, he was suffering under an undue amount of stress from the actions of Rabun Medical Center, now Mountain Lakes Medical Center, and the Georgia Medical Licensure Board.

“It is possible there was a mistake made,” he said. “If I did make a mistake, it was the first in 25 years. That is going to have to be between me and God.”

In 1998, Katz came to Rabun County and gained Emergency Room medical privileges at Rabun Medical Center. Within a year, however, he received notice from Dr. Kathy Easterling that his privileges were being revoked. Easterling was Chief of Staff at the time.

“Rabun County Hospital was sold in 2005 to InMed group out of Alabama,” said Chief Executive Officer Becky Sheppard. “I wasn’t here at the time and I just don’t readily have access to all that took place. I can’t really make a comment on the background of what took place then.”

Katz said eight complaints had been filed against him, none of which were by patients. Two of the nurses, he said, testified they had been told by the medical staff to issue complaints. No process followed, which would typically involve notice, a review, a right to appeal and a right to amend the situation, said Katz.

“You don’t just suspend a physician’s privileges. You just don’t do that. What they did was illegal,” he said. So, he hired a lawyer, filed suit and received $100,000 for the slander.

At that time he set up a private practice in which hospital privileges were not required. Dave Carr, an investigator with the licensing board showed up in his office. “He was obnoxious and rude and embarrassed me in front of my patients.” Without warning, three weeks later, his license was temporarily suspended.

“It was just like what happened with my ER privileges,” he said. Carr, he said, reported that Katz “looked impaired.”

“If he saw I was impaired, and that I was about to treat patients, and he had arresting powers, why would he have waited three weeks?” said Katz. He said he asked Carr what responsibility Carr had to stop him from practicing if he was impaired – Carr refused to answer the question under deposition.

Katz checked himself into Talbot Drug Recovery program for five days at the cost of $5,000. He was cleared of any implication of drug abuse. He was ordered to undergo another evaluation six months later. Again, he was cleared, said Katz. He saw a psychiatrist four times a year for four years and then asked to be released from the disciplinary action.

He said he was ordered a third time into a treatment center, the same week he received notice on the Tippett case – two years after her death.

“So, I have to believe this is connected,” he said.

Cummings said he never asked the board to investigate Katz, but his actions could have prompted the board to take a closer look at Katz.

“The 2004 and 2008 charges were based on his use of prescription medication, not on this investigation,” Cummings said. “I don’t know what the extent of the drug use was, but I find it troubles me that in 2004 he was in trouble with narcotics. In 2008, he was in trouble with narcotics. In the middle of that, someone died. That tells me the death was not the result of troubles from the [state medical] board.”

Katz said a third time he checked himself into Talbot. On the third day of a four-day evaluation, he was dismissed without explanation. Documents with the medical board do not indicate why he was dismissed from Talbot, only that “they no longer have an obligation to report to the board.”

Katz tried another location at Pine Grove, but said he was rejected once administrators spoke to the licensing board. Everywhere he went, he said, it seemed like they already had negative information on him.

Finally he went to Laurelwood, and did not mention the requirement by the licensing board. They referred him to a psychologist who again cleared him. But the medical board would not accept the findings, saying the facility was not board approved. Two weeks ago, the state board suspended his license.

“My license was taken away. I had never had a lawsuit. I’ve never had a credible complaint,” said Katz. “Everyone who knows what happened knows I’ve been targeted.”

Other medical licenses

Katz said he had practiced in South Florida, one of the more litigious regions to practice, and he never faced these kinds of problems there. He is, however, no longer allowed to practice in the state of Florida due to the issues in Georgia.

In December 2005, he voluntarily relinquished his state license.

He had failed to notify the Nov. 14, 2004, suspension of his Georgia license or the Dec. 21, 2004, transition to a probationary license.

To avoid further administrative actions in Florida, he relinquished his license.

“I told my lawyer I had a Florida license, it just didn’t occur to me. It isn’t like I kept it a secret. It’s public record,” he said.

Katz discontinued the interview before the question of practicing in California could be raised.

A Google internet search of Daniel B. Katz results in a pain management physician of the same name to five clinics in California. The Daniel B. Katz referenced on http://www.healthgrades.com/ is listed as having graduated from an Italian medical School, Facolta di Medicinia E Cerugia, Perugia, Italy. This is the same school the Clayton physician attended.

Katz, however, has never had a California medical license as verified by the California Medical Licensing Board.

Facilities listed include Saddleback Memorial Laguna Hills, Ca.; Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Long Beach, Ca.; South Coast Medical Center, Laguna Niguel, Ca.; and two offices for California Anesthesiology Management Group in Long Beach.

Only South Coast Medical Center was able to state that the Dr. Katz with current privileges at its facility did not graduate medical school in Italy. Their physician, said the medical staff office representative, has an active California license. There is a Dan Katz and a Daniel Katz listed with active licenses.

Brian Bissinett office manager with California Anesthesiology said he could not confirm or deny if Katz had worked for the group or in that state. They have multiple office locations working as a physician management company, several of which are out of state.

“I don’t know if we are talking about the same guy. Your Dr. Katz could be different from the Daniel Katz we work with,” Bissinett said. He also would not say if a California medical license would be a requirement to work in that state.

Terry with the medical staff office at Saddleback Memorial said she could not release any employment information without a signed release from the physician. She refused to give her last name when asked and stated she was not comfortable speaking to the newspaper.

“All of our doctors who are currently working here are licensed physicians,” she said. “I can’t tell you whether he worked here or not without that release,” she said.

It is unclear if Katz was working in California at any point in time. He ended his interview when asked what the next step would be for him without an active medical license in any state.

Dr. Miles Hyman

Franklin Pain Management physician Dr. Miles Hyman was recently linked to Katz in an Aug. 14 article in The Clayton Tribune. The Tribune reported that Hyman is Katz’s personal physician and Hyman’s medical license was a six-month probationary license due to his method of prescribing medication.

According the N.C. medical board, Hyman treated a patient between 2003 and 2006 under a diagnosis of progressive polyneuropathy – a terminal condition. Under this diagnosis, excessive narcotics were prescribed including thirty-six 40 mg tablets of methadone, forty-eight 200 mg tablets of MS Contin or 9,600 mg of morphine per day. Actiq lozenges were also prescribed. The board also cited Hyman for failure to document the need for large doses of narcotics nor did he document steps to protect the patient’s health.

In April, the board stayed a four-month suspension of the license and issued a six-month probation period.

Hyman said that unfortunately, patient client confidentiality prevented him from making any comment on the statements made in The Clayton Tribune linking him to Katz or in the North Carolina disciplinary action.

“I have a license in the state of North Carolina. I have an active license issued on my birthday. I have an active DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) license. That’s all I can really say,” Hyman said.