Austin American-Statesman (Texas)

June 12, 2004 Saturday

San Marcos doctor punished for misdiagnosis;
Reprimand from state board comes in case where patient died

BYLINE: Mary Ann Roser, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

SECTION: METRO/STATE; Pg. B5

LENGTH: 313 words

The state medical board reprimanded a San Marcos doctor after it said he missed the diagnosis of a patient he saw in an emergency room in Uvalde. She died three days later.
Guido Jose Calderon was among 33 physicians the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners disciplined at its regular meeting last week. The list also included an Austin psychiatrist.
A reprimand is a low level of punishment, and Calderon, 36, had no previous marks on his record, the board said.
Calderon was working in the ER at Uvalde Memorial Hospital in November 2002 when the patient came in after three days of vomiting and abdominal pain. An X-ray showed a possible obstruction of the intestine or the small bowel. Calderon sent the patient home with a diagnosis of vomiting and dehydration.
The patient came back to the hospital the following night, and within 13 hours, she went into cardiac arrest. She was airlifted to another hospital and died the next day. Her name and age are not public information, board spokeswoman Jill Wiggins said.
Calderon is now in a group practice and no longer does emergency medicine, the board said. He did not return a call seeking comment Friday, and his lawyer Bruce Anderson of San Antonio said he thought it best not to say anything because a malpractice lawsuit has been filed in the case.
The Austin psychiatrist who was disciplined, Vinodkumar Patel, is the medical director of Integrated Mental Health Services Inc., which failed to release the medical records of a patient after repeated requests from the patient’s physician. The physician formerly worked at Integrated Mental Health Services.
The board said Patel was not aware of the requests and had taken steps to see that the company complies with board rules that records be released within 15 days of such a request. The board fined Patel $1,000 for the violation.
maroser@statesman.com; 445-3619