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The Texas Medical Board disciplined 10 doctors from the Houston area at its December 2021 meeting. A total of 35 licensed from around the state had actions taken against them by the medical board during the meeting.
The Texas Medical Board said in a press release, “The disciplinary actions included: one order related to quality of care violations, seven orders related to unprofessional conduct, ten voluntary surrenders/revocations, four suspensions, one revocation, three restrictions, one order related to nontherapeutic prescribing, one order related to violation of board rules, five orders related to other states’ actions, and two orders related to inadequate medical records. The Board also ratified nine cease and desist orders.”
The board’s press release added, “The Board issued 127 physician licenses at the December meeting, bringing the total number of physician licenses issued
in Fiscal Year 2022 to 1,489.” The meeting was held December 10, 2021.
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Here are the doctors who had disciplinary action taken against them by the medical board:
Dr. Stella Fitzgibbons, Houston
Dr. Stella Fitzgibbons was disciplined for quality of care issues after she was found to have “discharged a patient without obtaining additional laboratory results to indicate the patient was stable.”
According to the medical board, Fitzgibbons was accused of inappropriately discharging a patient from a hospital to a nursing home while the patient “was suffering from leukocytosis and an acute kidney injury developed during her hospitalization, as evidenced by abnormal creatinine levels and elevated white blood counts, resulting in patient’s death.”
Fitzgibbons, “discharged the patient before the patient was stable … failed to obtain additional laboratory results and further failed to verify the patient’s hemoglobin levels had stabilized. The patient’s escalating hemoglobin levels and unexplained blood loss should have been resolved before the patient was discharged from the hospital to a nursing facility,” the board said.
Fitzgibbons, of Houston, entered into an agreed order with the Texas Medical Board that requires her to schedule an assessment with the Texas A&M Health Science Center Knowledge, Skills, Training, Assessment and Research (KSTAR) program within 30 days.
Fitzgibbons will also be required to complete 16 hours of continuing medical education, including eight hours in risk management and eight hours in post-operative complications, the medical board said.
Fitzgibbons, 72, has been practicing medicine for 37 years, according to the medical board. She graduated from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1980 and was issued her physician license a year later. She specializes in internal medicine and has hospital privileges at Memorial Hermann Hospital, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston Northwest Medical Center and North Cypress Medical Center.
Dr. Lilly Chen, Houston
Dr. Lilly Lil-Jing Chen, of Houston, was disciplined for unprofessional conduct issues after she was found guilty of theft in Texas state court. Chen, who was sentenced to two years of probation in the criminal case, will be required to comply with all the terms of her conviction in order to satisfy the medical board.
Chen, 58, has been practicing medicine in Texas for 25 years. She graduated from the State University of New York Stony Brook School of Medicine in 1989. She specializes in neurology.
Chen was charged in January 2020 with theft of property valued between $100 and $750, a class B misdemeanor, according to the board. She was convicted in January 2021 and sentenced to probation.
Dr. Mirza Nusrutullah Baig, Spring
Dr. Mirza Nusrutullah Baig, of Spring, voluntarily agreed to surrender his Texas medical license to avoid further disciplinary proceedings, according to the board. He was being investigation on accusations he “failed to meet the standard of surgical care for one patient,” who “required a Chiari decompression and cervical surgery,” the board said.
Baig, 47, graduated from the Howard University College of Medicine in 2003 and received his Texas medical license in 2011. He had hospital privilages at North Houston Surgical Hospital and HCA Conroe. He specialized in neurological surgery and sport and spine medicine, the board said.
Dr. Yolanda Lorraine Hamilton, Houston
Dr. Yolanda Hamilton, of Houston, was found guilty of four felony counts of conspiracy to commit health care fraud in criminal court and as a result, had her Texas medical license suspended by the board “until she requests in writing and appears before the board to provide clear evidence that she is physically, mentally and otherwise competent to safely practice medicine.”
According to the board, “Evidence shall include, at a minimum, the complete and final resolution of any and all criminal charges and investigations pending before any court or law enforcement agency, or any charges that may be brought as a result of any pending investigations. Dr. Hamilton shall not be permitted to supervise or delegate prescriptive authority to a physician assistant or advanced practice nurse or supervise a surgical assistant.”
Hamilton, 57, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and was ordered to pay $9.5 million in restitution to Medicaire, according to court documents. She has been licensed to practice medicine in Texas since 2000.
Dr. Arlette Naylor Pharo, Friendswood
Dr. Arlette Naylor Pharo, of Friendswood, voluntarily agreed to a suspension of her medical license for at least three months and until she provides evidence she is “physically, mentally and otherwise competent to safely practice medicine.”
Pharo, “was previously temporarily suspended, is dependent on and has abused alcohol which affects her ability to safely practice medicine and has entered in-patient treatment for alcohol abuse,” the board found.
The board said, “Furthermore, Dr. Pharo shall abstain from the consumption of prohibited substances as defined in the order; participate in the Board’s drug testing program; within 30 days obtain an independent medical evaluation from a pre-approved board certified psychiatrist and follow all recommendations made for care and treatment; participate in the activities of Alcoholics Anonymous no less than three times per week; comply with all terms of any Order for Pretrial Supervision or Bond Conditions; and shall not supervise or delegate prescriptive authority to a physician assistant or advanced practice nurse or supervise a surgical assistant.”
Pharo, 66, has been licensed to practice medicine in Texas since 1989.
Dr. Parvez Anjum Qureshi, Conroe
Dr. Parvez Anjum Qureshi, of Conroe, had his medical license suspended after he was found guilty in federal court in October 2021 of unlawfully prescribing 1.3 million doses of opioids over a two-year period in Spring Branch, Texas. His license is suspended until further action by the medical board.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Qureshi, 56, “a medical doctor, conspired to and did unlawfully prescribe controlled substances from 2014 through February 2016 for patients at Spring Shadows Medical Clinic of Houston (Spring Shadows).” Prosecutors said:
Trial evidence showed that Qureshi issued unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances to over 90 people on the clinic’s busiest days. So-called “runners” brought numerous people to pose as patients at Spring Shadows and paid for their visits. Spring Shadows charged approximately $250-$500 for each patient visit and required payment in cash.
The evidence also showed that Qureshi pre-signed prescriptions for controlled substances and issued prescriptions for patients who were not evaluated by a physician. Throughout the scheme, Qureshi wrote prescriptions for over 1.3 million dosage units of hydrocodone, and over 40,000 dosage units of oxycodone, both Schedule II controlled substances. Ayesha wrote prescriptions for over one million dosage units of carisoprodol, commonly known as Soma, a Schedule IV controlled substance, usually for patients who had also been prescribed oxycodone or hydrocodone by Qureshi. The combination of oxycodone/hydrocodone and carisoprodol is a dangerous drug cocktail with no known medical benefit. The clinic made over $4 million from prescriptions issued in the scheme, over $1.5 million of which went to Qureshi.
Qureshi will be sentenced in January 2022.
Dr. Sadiq Ali, Beaumont
Dr. Sadiq Ali, of Beaumont, had a temporary suspension of his medical license lifted after he entered into an agreement with the board. According to the medical board, Ali was arrested and charged with soliciting a prostitute who was a minor. The charges are still pending.
The board said that over the next five years he won’t “see, examine, treat, prescribe to, provide consultation for or otherwise practice medicine on minor patients under 18 years of age, including telemedicine,” the board said.” He is also required to have a chaperone with him whenever he performs a physical examination on a patient.
The board added that he is required to, “within 30 days obtain a pre-approved psychologist and follow all recommendations for care and treatment; continue to
participate in group psychotherapy and neurotherapy sessions; continue to participate in the activities and programs of Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous; and shall be prohibited from delegating to any midlevel the ability to see, examine, treat, prescribe to, provide consultation for, or otherwise practice medicine on minor patients under 18 years of age, including telemedicine.”
Dr. Mark Henderson, Spring
Dr. Mark Henderson, of Spring, “was terminated from employment for prescribing medication at doses that should never be prescribed to patients in a manner that compromised their health and safety.” Henderson agreed to have his medical license restricted.
The terms of the restriction are that he, “shall not practice clinical medicine as defined in the Order; publicly referred to the Texas Physician Health Program; and shall not be permitted to supervise or delegate prescriptive authority to a physician assistant or advanced practice nurse or supervise a surgical assistant.”
Henderson, 54, has been licensed to practice medicine in Texas since 1993.
Dr. Reginald James Newsome, Houston
Dr. Reginald Newsome, of Houston, was found to have, “nontherapeutically prescribed controlled substances to five chronic pain patients and violated the standard of care and board rules related to the treatment of chronic pain.”
Newsome agreed to, ” within 30 days schedule an assessment with the Texas A&M Health Science Center Knowledge, Skills, Training, Assessment, and Research (KSTAR) program; have his practice monitored by another physician for 12 consecutive monitoring cycles; within one year and three attempts pass the Medical Jurisprudence Exam; within one year complete the prescribing course offered by the University of California San Diego Physician Assessment and Clinical Education (PACE) program; within one year complete at least 24 hours of CME, divided as follows: eight hours in risk management, eight hours in ethics and eight hours in medical recordkeeping; and within 60 days pay an administrative penalty of $5,000.”
Dr. Monte Stavis, Houston
Dr. Monte Stavis, of Houston, “did not record multiple portions of an examination which would potentially have supported the recommendation for surgery,” and “Stavis’ documentation for the patient was inadequate to support his recommendation for what he did or found,” the board said.
Stavis entered into a “mediated agreed order requiring him to within one year complete at least six hours of CME in medical recordkeeping.”
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