RALPH BAILEY: What's happening to local plastic surgeon 'just ain't right'
| Friday, Jul 30 2010 06:33 PM
Last Updated Friday, Jul 30 2010 06:44 PM
The fact I called three plastic surgeon's offices hoping to speak to doctors about the charges against one of their colleagues, and only one would talk as long as I didn't name him, brings home just how sensitive a situation Dr. Darshan Shah is in.
Because Shah -- described on my radio show by dozens of his former patients as "wonderful," "caring" and "outstanding" -- reportedly failed to officially end a patient-doctor relationship with a certified letter, he's facing an accusation of sexual exploitation, gross negligence and unprofessional conduct.
After an investigation, the state attorney general's office filed the accusation on behalf of California Medical Board staff May 26.
Let's not even get into the fact that, according to Shah's lawyer, the patient complained three to 3 1/2 years after the short relationship ended and after she married another doctor. (Medical Board filings don't name the woman so The Californian hasn't been able to reach her for comment).
Let's even ignore the fact most reasonable people would conclude the new doctor hubbie encouraged raising the charges.
But you cannot ignore that no criminal charges have been filed and Shah's lawyer says it was a consensual relationship. You cannot ignore that no matter what the Medical Board accusation says, Shah's reputation has been forever damaged.
And you can't hold a specialist like a plastic surgeon to the same constraints as a general practicing physician.
For example, I've seen my GP 10 to 15 times a year. But when a surgeon removed a cyst from my ugly mug, I never saw him again. And guess what? I never received a certified letter!
Granted, I wasn't on my surgeon's date list. But using this technicality to upend a man's career, as my grandmother used to say, "just ain't right!"
The one plastic surgeon that would speak to me conceded he's never sent a patient a formal letter ending the relationship.
"But I've never asked out or dated a patient, either," he said.
While it remains one of the most common ways to meet a love interest, work-related relationships remain taboo. In some professions, like TV news, the practice almost seems encouraged, especially among the main anchors who seek to symbolize unity and that the news team is one big happy family ... Jim and Robin, Todd and Jackie.
But in the legal field or world of medicine, dating is heavily discouraged.
"It's a privileged relationship," one physician told me. "You can actually do harm to the patient. It's not an equal relationship. The doctor remains in a position of power and can bring to bear undue influence and confuse the therapeutic relationship and goal."
Furthermore, it's time we begin asking why are news organizations so quick to print the California Medical Board accusation before the matter has been settled or gone to a hearing? Aren't we, the public, just as well-served if news teams waited for the case to be resolved? (Unless there's a settlement, an administrative law judge will hear the matter, propose a decision and the California Medical Board can adopt or reject that decision).
And it's time we look in the mirror.
Have we not grown tired of jumping in the middle of people's personal squabbles? Whether it's Mel Gibson or Alec Baldwin or a Bakersfield physician, it's time we and the media stop focusing and exploiting the personal issues that we all share.
In the end, the California Medical Board will come to the correct conclusion and exonerate Shah. It'll highlight the fact that no evidence presented indicates Shah dated this woman while she was his client or under his care in any way.
But once again our zeal for gossip leaves a man standing with egg on his face and a spotless reputation that has now been forever stained.
What board does Shah go to to get his good name back? How does he get reimbursed for the unknown number of ladies who may not use his services based on these silly charges?
Life sometimes seems like high school with real money. And in a town like ours with fewer than six degrees of separation, I believe it is imperative that news organizations think twice about reporting allegations rather than pure facts and findings.
Ralph Bailey, who hosts a talk show on AM 1560 KNZR, is one of four conservative community columnists whose work appears here every Saturday. These are the opinions of Bailey, not necessarily The Californian. You can e-mail him at rbailey@bakersfield.com. Next week: Heather Ijames.
