Right Decision by Medical Board

The Medical Board of California put its priorities in the proper order in suspending temporarily the practice of two Orange County doctors stemming from the case of a woman who died after 11 hours of cosmetic surgery.

It remains to be seen if the doctors acted wrongly, and they are entitled to a fair hearing. But Medical Board officials were right to argue that their first concern must be patient safety. If the board files formal charges against the doctors, they are entitled to a hearing before an administrative law judge, who may exonerate them or strip them of their licenses permanently.

In the past, the board has not always succeeded in determining which cases need immediate attention. Nor has it been rigorous about tracking cases to ensure needed steps were taken. For years, the board received deserved criticism for protecting doctors more than patients and being lax in investigating physicians.

Last month, a state deputy attorney general, Gayle Askren, asked a judge to suspend temporarily the medical licenses of Dr. William Earle Matory, the surgeon, and Dr. Robert Ken Hoo, the anesthesiologist who treated Judy Fernandez in the cosmetic surgery case. A Medical Board investigator agreed that suspension could hurt the ability of the doctors to earn a living but argued that it was more important to protect public safety while a judge determined what happened during Fernandez’s surgery.

A complaint by the attorney general’s office said that Fernandez bled to death March 17 during a $20,000 liposuction procedure that removed about 20 pounds of fat from six areas of her body. Speedy investigations clearly should be a priority. If wrongdoing has occurred, the public will receive greater protection. If doctors are cleared, they should get the chance to resume their practice as quickly as possible.