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More Accusations for Local Brain Surgeon
Posted: Sep 26, 2011 8:53 PM by Steven Romo - sromo@kristv.com
Updated: Sep 27, 2011 4:35 AM
CORPUS CHRISTI - New patients are coming forward accusing a local brain surgeon of harmful practices.
Dr. Stefan Konasiewicz has already faced several malpractice suits in Minnesota, two reportedly involving patient deaths, before he headed to Corpus Christi.
Now, accusations are starting to pile up in South Texas.
"They did surgery January 27th and my dad passed on March 17th," said Linda Cavazos.
Cavazos says her father, Juan, was treated by Dr. Konasiewicz this year and he died a short time later.
After hearing of Konasiewicz's history, Cavazos says she's filled with lingering questions about the quality the doctor's care.
"You think this guy is very highly educated and he knows what he's talking about. But little do we know that it's not true," she said.
She's not alone. More than half a dozen people in Corpus Christi have contacted us with concerns about the doctor.
The Duluth News Tribune reports that Konasiewicz settled at least five lawsuits accusing him of serious injury or death in Minnesota.
He came to Texas in 2007 after facing reprimand by the Minnesota Medical Board.
With the new patients coming forward, we tried calling Konasiewicz to give him the chance to respond, but we still weren't able to reach him.
The Texas Medical Board tells us, Konasiewicz is free to practice in Texas without restrictions.
Leigh Hopper, a spokeswoman for the medical board, says neurosurgery is "very risky with a lot of potential for bad outcomes."
She also points out that Konasiewicz would still be allowed to practice medicine in Minnesota now.
Although it appears from Minnesota Medical Board records that Konasiewicz would be required to have the supervision of another doctor in that state.
Alex Winslow of Texas Watch, a consumer advocacy group, says the Texas Medical Board does not sufficiently research the history of doctors coming into the state.
"It is absolutely unacceptable to have physicians with a known track record of harming patients multiple times in another state having their licenses not only issued but renewed here," Winslow said.
Winslow places some of the blame in this case on the Texas Medical Board.
"It's a very small number of physicians who cause most of the medical errors in our system. If we were serious about protecting patients, we'd get tough on that small number of doctors, crack down on them, get them out of the practice of medicine," he said.
Winslow also says that due to Texas law, it's extremely difficult for a patient to bring malpractice claims against doctors.
That's something Cavazos says she is still looking into.
But she says she knows nothing will change the pain and regret she's dealing with.
"If I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't had let it happen," she said.
The Duluth News Tribune reports that Konasiewicz and his Minnesota hospital have settled six malpractice claims for at least $3.2 million.
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