NC man goes 'completely numb' after hernia surgery, feels 'stonewalled' by complaint process
The North Carolina Medical Board receives and rules on thousands of complaints against doctors each year. The board can also take action if a doctor gets in trouble with the law or with a medical board in another state.
One local patient contacted WRAL Investigates about what he says was a “nightmare” process to file a complaint and a ruling he feels isn’t fair.
“Once the pain subsided, that's when I realized ‘Hey, I have no feeling, I’m completely numb,'” John McKenzie told us about his hernia surgery that changed his life.
McKenzie says his midsection is numb from severed nerves, which is a known risk for that type of surgery.
“There's no other deduction that something didn't happen in surgery,” he said.
McKenzie said the doctor didn’t see it that way, “There was nothing wrong, it was fine. There's no evidence of any nerves being cut.”
McKenzie had top urologists at Duke, Wake Forest, the Cleveland Clinic and Novant look at his medical records. None of them found any other medical explanation for his numbness. At the advice of his primary physician, he filed a complaint with the North Carolina Medical Board.
“It's just a horrible experience, horrible experience,” McKenzie said about the complaint process.
FedEx records show his complaint was received at the board in March of 2023. He called and wrote in via the board's website multiple times to get an update.
“You really get the feeling you're getting stonewalled,” he said.
Turns out no one could find his paperwork, so he resubmitted electronically in June. In January of this year, 10 months after his initial complaint, he got a ruling letter from the board.
“They had finally resolved the complaint and there was no, nothing they could do about the doctor, they didn't see any penalties for him,” McKenzie said
“I understand and it can be frustrating for patients where they have a negative outcome and the board says we found no violation,” said Brian Blankenship, the board's chief legal counsel.
Blankenship said the board and sometimes outside specialists, review and debate cases with one key issue in mind-- Did the doctor violate the standard of care? And in many cases, Blankenship said a mistake isn't a violation.
“The doctor, at the end, may have operated on the wrong arm, but we have to look at all the steps that lead up to there that got us there,” Blankenship said
Last year, the board closed 4,637 cases. The board took public adverse actions on licensees 204 times. That means if you search for your doctor on the medical board’s website, you can see what happened.
The board reprimanded doctors 33 times, suspended 16 licenses and revoked just three for things like health care fraud or convictions for violent crimes. That means less than one half of one percent of all closed complaints to the state Medical Board had any impact on a physician's license.
“We’re not going to punish people just for punishment’s sake,” Blankenship said when asked about the low numbers of harsh penalties.
Most of the actions taken by the board are in private or public letters of concern, which clearly states "The Board does not consider a public letter of concern to be a disciplinary action or a limitation or restriction on your license." The public letters of concern do show up when you search for your doctor. The private letters are just that — private.
WRAL Investigates read all of those public letters of concern. We found 66% of them involved substandard care. We're talking about operating on the wrong leg, failing to diagnose cancer on multiple occasions and not performing imaging on a 23-year-old obese patient with diabetes who went to the emergency room complaining of chest pains. That patient was discharged and died from a heart attack the next day.
We asked why those cases only rose to the level of a non-disciplinary letter, instead of the lowest level of formal punishment.
“It would be easy, but not right to just hand out reprimands,” Blankenship responded.
McKenzie is not buying it.
“The North Carolina medical board is physicians for physicians,” he told us. In his case, he thinks it’s stacked against the patient.
His complaint letter was only a few paragraphs long and stuck to the facts of the case, which is the board’s instructions. Try to leave emotion or opinions or personal attacks out.
McKenzie says when the received a copy of the doctor’s written response to the board, it was anything but “Just the facts.” He feels slighted, “If I could have told the whole story I think they would probably not want this physician that operated on me doing any more surgeries in North Carolina.”
Blankenship says the board hears similar concerns from other patients, but it’s just not accurate, “The perception we’re not taking it seriously, the fox guarding the hen house, couldn’t be anything further from the truth.” Blankenship stands by the board's motto "…to regulate the practice of medicine and surgery for the benefit and protection of the people of North Carolina.” Blankenship says the board hears just as many concerns from doctors about the process or the ultimate decision, which he feels validates the board’s work.
While McKenzie hoped his complaint would have led to action the doctor, he hopes the board will provide better service in the future. “I've gotten better treatment riding through McDonald's than I've gotten on the telephone with some people at the board,” he said.
Blankenship adds McKenzie’s case and others show how important it is to read all of the forms given to you prior to any procedure. Nerve damage was a potential side effect from the type of hernia surgery McKenzie had. The risk was spelled out on the consent form, which he signed, though McKenzie says the physician never verbally discussed the potential.
It’s also important to note that if you’ve had a negative experience during your care, make sure you file your complaint in the right place. The Medical Board oversees just doctors. There are different licensee boards for things like pharmacists and nurses. While those boards will normally pass along your complaint to the correct board, filing it in the wrong place could close down your case.
