New York, US – 8th January, 2019: A doctor who formerly worked at Vassar Brothers Medical Center could lose his license amid allegations of negligence and incompetence involving the death of a Poughkeepsie man and the treatment of four other patients.
The Department of Health State Board For Professional Medical Conduct says Denny Pacheco discharged patients without adequately evaluating their symptoms on five occasions, including three who he saw at Vassar Brothers between 2012 and 2014.
The list of patients includes Keith MacDonald, a 50-year-old Poughkeepsie man who died on June 2, 2014. According to the state department’s filing, the man suffered a heart attack around one hour after being discharged by Pacheco and died.
Pacheco is also accused of lying in applications to two hospitals after he left Vassar Brothers, according to documents.
The state began hosting closed hearings regarding the allegations in November in New York City, after the filing on Sept. 13.
Pacheco is charged with multiple counts of gross negligence, gross incompetence, negligence on more than one occasion, incompetence on more than one occasion, failure to maintain proper records, fraud in the practice of medicine and filing a false report.
In addition to three patients locally, two incidents involving patients Pacheco allegedly treated at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira are detailed in the health board’s filing.
Public health law prohibits the state department "from commenting on an Office of Professional Medical Conduct investigation of a licensee beyond what is publicly posted on the (Department of Health) website," said Jill Montag, department spokeswoman.
Pacheco has been licensed in New York to practice medicine since Sept. 9, 2010, according to documents. He no longer works for Vassar Brothers or Arnot Ogden Medical Center, according to officials from both hospitals.
Vassar Brothers spokesperson John Nelson said Pacheco left the hospital in 2014.
"We cooperate with and provide information requested by either the New York State Department of Health or Office of Professional Medical Conduct when those agencies conduct investigations," Nelson said. "However, our policies prohibit us from discussing personnel or other internal investigations."
Attempted to contact Pacheco were unsuccessful Monday.
What is alleged
None of the patients noted in the health board filing are named, though MacDonald was identified by Thomas Davis, an attorney representing MacDonald’s widow in a civil lawsuit filed in 2016.
Davis said the Poughkeepsie man visited Vassar Brothers with "classic symptoms of heart attack," including shortness of breath and pain in his left arm.
An electrocardiogram test was completed with abnormal results, Davis said, noting a cardiologist was not called to examine him.
“My client gets up in the examination room about ready to walk out the door to leave and he has a massive heart attack and dies,” Davis said.
The health board said Pacheco failed to obtain MacDonald’s cardiac history, adequately interpret his electrocardiogram and adequately diagnose the patient, before ultimately failing to maintain a proper medical record of the incident, according to the filing.
Davis said the lawsuit is scheduled for trial in May.
Two other incidents at Vassar Brothers involved Pacheco allegedly discharging patients without adequately evaluating them or treating their pain. These included a 22-year-old woman who in September 2012 ultimately underwent a cholecystectomy, and a 7-month-old girl in March 2013, whose respiratory difficulty and fever worsened hours after she was discharged, according to the filing.
At Arnot Ogden, the health board said Pacheco misdiagnosed a 25-year-old man with sinusitis “without adequate medical indication,” and noted the man was later transferred to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, where he underwent treatment from July 20, 2016 to Sept. 8, 2016. In the case of a 61-year-old woman, the health board said Pacheco in January 2016 prescribed treatment that went in conflict with her medical history, and the woman subsequently was admitted for six days of treatment.
The health board is also alleging Pacheco knowing lied in applying to work at Arnot Ogden and Ellis Medicine in Schenectady, failing to disclose that he had privileges revoked while working at Vassar Brothers.
Source: https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2019/01/08/former-vassar-brothers-doctor-accused-negligence-may-lose-license/2490799002/