Osteopathic board limits doctor’s license
A disciplinary hearing for Dr. Ming-Wei Wu has been delayed until March 28, and the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine added restrictions to his license that keep him from performing surgeries at Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center that involve general anesthesia.
The restrictions were added a day before the osteopathic board was to hold an emergency hearing to determine whether Wu's license should be summarily suspended, said Barbara Longo, deputy executive director of the osteopathic board.
"He can not perform any surgeries requiring general anesthesia at all,'' Longo said in an e-mail Wednesday. Longo said that the agreement between the board and Wu was reached Tuesday evening.
The board has filed several complaints against Wu because of care he provided patients at Desert Springs Hospital and Desert View Hospital in Pahrump between March 12, 2006, and Dec. 27, 2008.
Two of the patients died, according to the complaints.
A hearing to determine whether Wu's license should be suspended was scheduled for Wednesday but was canceled after the general surgeon agreed to the restrictions.
Wu also agreed to refrain from performing surgical procedures requiring general anesthesia in Desert View Hospital unless another general surgeon is present, according to the agreement, which was signed Tuesday.
"This agreement fulfills the Board's concerns for the public safety and welfare, and still provides a physician for the citizens of Pahrump who are experiencing a shortage in physicians in that area,'' according to an osteopathic board news release.
Depending on the outcome of his disciplinary hearings Wu faces probation, a public reprimand, suspension and revocation of his license to practice osteopathic medicine in Nevada.
According to the osteopathic board's Web site, Wu received his doctor of osteopathic medicine license in May 2005. That license is to expire Dec. 31.
Wu earned his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree at Western University of Health Sciences Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona, Calif.
Contact reporter Annette Wells at awells@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.
