Obesity surgeon gives up license
GASTRIC BYPASS: The doctor disputes medical board findings but says he lacks funds for a fight.
10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 24, 2006
By DOUGLAS QUAN
The Press-Enterprise
A Riverside weight-loss surgeon accused of gross negligence and incompetence in connection with his treatment of gastric-bypass patients -- some of whom died -- has agreed to surrender his license.
In June 2005, the Medical Board of California accused Dr. Terry L. Sanderfer of delaying treatment or failing to act promptly when problems arose, failing to adequately evaluate patients before and after surgery, abdicating patient care to others and keeping medical notes that were incomplete or illegible.
Speaking publicly for the first time Monday, Sanderfer said he surrendered his license rather than fight the charges because he has no money to defend himself.
"I'm flat broke," Sanderfer said by phone. Mounting malpractice-insurance and legal costs forced him to file for bankruptcy in October, he said.
Thirteen of Sanderfer's gastric-bypass patients have died of complications from the surgery, according to public records and the doctor's own accounting.
Sanderfer has been sued about two dozen times for problems stemming from surgeries he has performed at Corona Regional Medical Center, Riverside Community Hospital and Parkview Community Hospital Medical Center. Some lawsuits have been dropped, some have been settled, and others are still active.
Sanderfer, who stopped practicing in March, said he could have kept better medical records, but he disputes the thrust of the state investigation's findings.
"I know I'm a good surgeon. I've always had a good reputation. ... I know what quality is," Sanderfer said. "I love medicine, and I love surgery. If I thought I was incompetent, I would have gotten further training or stopped doing that myself."
Sanderfer said he has performed about 1,500 gastric-bypass surgeries.
"I did a lot of high-risk people ... people who were sick and older and people other doctors didn't want to tackle," he said. "But I had a belief in the surgery. Instead of doing it for the money, I wanted to do it for people who needed it the most."
The surgery for severely overweight people involves reducing the size of the stomach and bypassing part of the small intestine, where digestion occurs. About 140,000 weight-loss surgeries are performed nationwide each year.
Sanderfer's decision to surrender his license, accepted by the Division of Medical Quality of the Medical Board of California last week, will become effective Thursday.
Sanderfer will be allowed to file a petition for reinstatement in 18 months, but he will never be allowed to perform gastric-bypass surgery in California, according to the terms of the agreement. Sanderfer said he does not know whether he will file a petition.
More than $1.2 million has been paid by Sanderfer's malpractice-insurance carrier to settle three lawsuits. The medical board's Web site says the monetary value of two of the settlements is "above average" when compared with settlements reported for physicians in that specialty.
During the 2004-5 fiscal year, 82 physicians in California facing accusations from the medical board surrendered their licenses, according to Candis Cohen, a board spokeswoman.
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