From The Midland Reporter-Telegram April 13, 1997
Associated Press

DALLAS -- Something went wrong during Alexandra Katada's birth in May 1993.

Dr. Michael S. Phillips -- who now practices obstetrics at Primary Medical Clinic in Midland and has admitting privileges at Midland Memorial Hospital -- had just delivered her twin sister, Lauren, with no problems at Baylor Richardson Medical Center. But Alexandra was lying in a difficult position, with neither head nor feet toward the birth canal.

Phillips and a nurse tried turning the baby within the womb. Finally, he used forceps to pull the baby out feet first.

"He said, 'Don't be surprised if she has a broken collarbone, because I felt something snap,'" recalled the twins' father, Shigeru Katada, a 37-year-old software administrator. "It seemed like everybody was very quiet."

Alexandra suffered a crushed spinal cord and a fractured right elbow. She was virtually paralyzed from the chest down and suffered damage to her respiratory muscles. Wracked with pneumonia and confined to an iron lung, the brown-eyed 9-month-old died of respiratory failure on Valentine's Day 1994.

Katada and his wife, 35-year-old Sandra, believed Phillips should have done a Caesarean section instead of attempting to deliver the second baby vaginally. Their suspicions were sharpened when their attorney, Les Weisbrod, told them at least two other babies had died during or after delivery by the same doctor.

The year after Alexandra's death, Phillips quit practicing at Baylor Richardson. He says he left because the spread of managed care in Dallas-Fort Worth was making it difficult for him to make ends meet as a solo practitioner.

But Weisbrod, who last year helped the couple win a settlement from Phillips' insurance company, says three physicians at various hospitals have told him they served on confidential committees looking into allegations Phillips had committed misconduct. Weisbrod believes the obstetrician gave up privileges at Baylor Richardson and another hospital in exchange for no formal action being taken against him.

Such "go quietly" deals are legal. But hospitals are supposed to report them to the state medical board, which then decides whether to investigate.

If a hospital fails to do so, however, state law provides no penalty. And some industry insiders say that should change.

"I do believe the board needs either some kind of administrative penalty authority over the hospital or some kind of authority to refer it to another agency that would have regulatory authority over the hospital "said Tim Weitz, former general counsel of the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.

Charles Bailey, general counsel of the Texas Hospital Association, agreed.

"From a consumer standpoint, I think it makes sense," Bailey said. "Sometimes I think that hospitals will be concerned about it because the physicians are concerned about it, and the hospitals don't like upset doctors."

Texas Medical Association lawyer C.J. Francisco said he couldn't say whether or how state law should be changed to foster better hospital reporting. But he said the association supports laws that keep bad doctors from skipping from hospital to hospital.

In the Katadas' case, the hospital reported no action against Phillips to the state medical board. The Katadas filed a complaint with the board after settling their lawsuit, and they say Phillips is now under investigation. Board officials say the law prohibits them from confirming or denying that.

The state medical board has taken no disciplinary action against Phillips, its records show.

Phillips denies he did anything wrong in the Katada case and that he left the other hospitals to avoid sanctions.

"It basically comes down to who you believe: me or a slimeball lawyer," Phillips says, referring to Weisbrod.

It's difficult to know how often hospitals trade silence for a quick departure.

That's because peer review committees -- groups of doctors within a hospital that decide how to handle misconduct allegations against their colleagues -- are strictly protected by confidentiality laws that cover their proceedings, decisions and records.

Doctors say secrecy is necessary to protect doctors from false allegations and to protect the doctors on the committee from retribution.

But there is a growing backlash against an oversight system some say protects doctors at patients' expense. Critics say patients have the right to know about their doctors' backgrounds, especially in a managed care environment that restricts patients' choices to an approved list. The Katadas say they chose Phillips largely because he was on their insurance company's list of approved doctors.

James R. Winn, M.D., executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Euless-based Federation of State Medical Boards, said doctors or hospitals that knowingly shield a bad doctor may be liable if the doctor harms someone as a result of a failure to report.

Liability should not be the only legal penalty for noncompliant hospitals, he said.

"I honestly believe there ought to be some monetary fine or some sanction that could be imposed for failure to disclose that information," Winn said. "To hide those doctors who are a danger to the public is really unconscionable."

For her part, Sandra Katada says she's frustrated that Phillips is still delivering babies.

"That's what's so hard about this," she said. "Other hospitals and doctors knew that he was practicing below the standard of care and they did nothing about him."

She anguishes over her loss as a mother and grieves, too, for Lauren, who lost her identical twin.

"There's no other relationship that will replace what she should have had with Alexandra," Mrs. Katada said. "They should have had each other for a lifetime."