Here are four legal battles involving gastroenterologists that Becker's has reported on so far in 2024:
1. A jury in Portland, Ore., awarded over $24.6 million to the family of a patient who died during a colonoscopy in 2018, but cleared the gastroenterologist involved in the case.
The jury heard opening arguments for the case July 31. The family of Erric Gilbert initially sued the clinic and the team of medical providers for a total of $57.7 million in both economic and non-economic damages for failing to provide emergency resuscitation in time after Mr. Gilbert's vital signs began to crash during his procedure. The gastroenterologist who performed the procedure, Young Choi, MD, was found at no fault for the incident by the jury, despite opposing arguments by Mr. Gilbert's family
2. The Arkansas State Medical Board revoked the license of gastroenterologist Alonzo Williams, MD, following accusations of sexual harassment and improper prescription practices, among other allegations. The board approved 16 of the 17 charges against Dr. Williams. According to the report, many were related to "ignorant malpractices" for overutilization of medical procedures including biopsies and colonoscopies.
3. Another patient has accused New York City gastroenterologist Zhi Alan Cheng, MD, of sexual abuse. This is the third indictment against Dr. Cheng, who was employed by New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian Queens from July 2020 to December 2022. According to the report, a 48-year-old woman alleges she was sedated for a colonoscopy at the hospital and woke up to find Dr. Cheng sexually abusing her.
The patient's attorney has filed a lawsuit on her behalf and of other women involved in the case who allege NewYork-Presbyterian Queens failed to act to remove Dr. Cheng after signs of predatory behavior.
4. Nitesh Ratnakar, MD, gastroenterologist in Wheeling, W.Va., was indicted on charges of tax fraud and obstructing justice after authorities said he failed to pay more than $2.4 million in payroll taxes. Dr. Ratnakar was indicted on 41 counts of tax fraud and one count of obstructing a federal grand jury investigation.