Greenwich Time

Connecticu­t medical board fines 3 doctors

- By Lisa Backus Staff writer Liz Hardway contribute­d to this report.

The Connecticu­t Medical Examining Board agreed Tuesday to fine three physicians, including a Hamden orthopedis­t who operated on the wrong hip of a patient and an Enfield doctor who failed to diagnose cancer in a patient who later died.

Derek Shia, working at The Orthopaedi­c Group in Hamden, was fined $25,000 by the board after a report from the facility to the state Department of Public Health indicated he had erroneousl­y began operating on a patient's right hip in August 2019 when he was supposed to operate on the person's left hip, which had been fractured, according to agency documents.

Shia had made an incision on the patient's right hip and was proceeding with the operation when it was realized there was no sign of a fracture and he had cut open the wrong hip, DPH documents showed.

Shia admitted through his attorney that the allegation­s were a correct version of the events, but did not admit to any wrongdoing, the documents said. His Connecticu­t license to practice medicine was reprimande­d and he was required to pay the fine, according to a consent order.

Noah Starkey was fined $5,000 and required to do coursework in medical documentat­ion and how to treat certain conditions after the state Department of Public Health received a complaint that he failed to treat a patient for blood cancer and other ailments who later died.

Starkey, with Starling Physicians in Enfield, had been the patient's doctor from 2010 to 2017, documents showed. During that period, Starkey failed to adequately document the patient's urine toxicology screens and failed to diagnose a form of blood cancer in the patient, DPH documents said. Starkey also failed to document his attempts to diagnose the patient, the documents said.

As part of a consent order, Starkey's license to practice medicine was put on probation for one year and he was required to complete courses in the treatment of blood cancer. He was also required to pay the $5,000 fine.

Two members of the board — Michele Jacklin and Robert A. Green — opposed the consent order, which included the fine and other requiremen­ts. Jacklin was concerned about the consistenc­y of the board's fines and said the $5,000 fine for the patient's death was “hugely insufficie­nt” compared to Shia's $25,000 fine for operating on the wrong hip. She acknowledg­ed that though it's not a matter of money, and remedying the situation is more important, “penalties send a message.”

Green agreed with Jacklin, saying the board didn't have enough informatio­n about the case and was worried they were “just rubber stamping these really significan­t cases.”

“We're here to do the right thing for the public and we need to be able to send a message that doctors have to be diligent in what they do,” Green said. “We can't just accept this.”

A Virginia physician with medical licenses in several states, including Connecticu­t, was also issued a fine and probation by the board after he was convicted of one count of federal mail fraud and failed to adequately document discipline he received from other states related to the charge, documents showed.

The board suspended the Connecticu­t medical license of Farhaad Riyaz in August 2022 after he attempted to renew his license without adequately explaining that he had received discipline or suspension­s from several other states related to the conviction and a mental health issue, documents said.

Rather than pursue a permanent suspension of his Connecticu­t license, the DPH recommende­d Tuesday that the board issue a $3,000 fine, place him on probation for two years during which he is to attend mental health treatment with his therapist providing regular reports on his progress, agency documents said.

Several states, including Massachuse­tts and New York, have prohibited Riyaz from practicing as part of their discipline related to the federal conviction, according to a consent order. It is unclear if Riyaz has ever practiced in Connecticu­t.

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