A former Vail neurologist surrendered his Colorado medical license amid allegations that he misdiagnosed a multiple sclerosis patient and botched her treatment before she died of complications.
But the doctor, who now is accused of falsely diagnosing nearly two dozen others in Colorado with MS — using an MRI machine he owned but whose results he allegedly was unqualified to interpret — continues to run a thriving medical practice in Florida caring for patients suffering with MS.
Two federal malpractice lawsuits were filed in Denver U.S. District Court on Aug. 19 against Dr. Gary M. Weiss, both accusing him of diagnosing patients with MS even though they didn’t have the incurable disease. Two women claimed they suffered depression and side effects, including debilitating pain, over of a span of several years because of what they described as substandard care.
A 2015 lawsuit filed in Summit County District Court by Dr. Mark Pithan, who bought Weiss’ Colorado practice for $1.3 million, said a large percentage of the doctor’s profits had been for MRI and EEG tests prescribed by him that were not “medically needed.”
“In fact, (Dr. Pithan) discovered through investigation that many of Dr. Weiss’ former patients were misdiagnosed and not even afflicted with MS,” the lawsuit says. “Dr. Pithan has personally overturned approximately 20 patients’ diagnoses of MS previously diagnosed by Dr. Weiss.”
Weiss began practicing in Colorado in 1996 and treated patients at eight Colorado clinics from Arvada to Gypsum before surrendering his license. Now he’s accepting new MS patients in his Florida offices in Palm Bay, Merritt Island, Sebastian and Melbourne.
Weiss did not return multiple phone messages left with his main office in Palm Bay last week. Weiss’ Denver attorney, Victoria Lovato, said Friday she could not comment on the Colorado Medical Board action.
Brad Dalton, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, said he couldn’t comment about the status of Weiss’ license because no formal administrative action has been taken in Florida —- nearly two years after Weiss surrendered his Colorado medical license.
Dalton said the Florida board usually acts swiftly when licensing action is taken by another state’s medical board. In every instance that he is aware of in which a physician has surrendered his medical license in another state, Dalton said the Florida board has taken the identical action.
Weiss voluntarily gave up his Colorado medical license by signing a stipulation order with the Colorado Medical Board on Sept. 22, 2014. The six-page stipulation says Weiss was accused of providing substandard care that led to the death of a woman identified in the documents only by her initials, “D.E.”
“This order and all its terms shall have the same force and effect as an order entered after a formal disciplinary hearing …,” says the document signed by Weiss and Dr. Eric Groce, chairman of Inquiry Panel B of the Colorado Medical Board.
By signing the stipulation, Weiss gave up his right to defend himself against allegations that “constitute unprofessional conduct.” But in the same document, Weiss denied providing substandard care.
Weiss continues to practice without limitations on his medical license in Florida, even though the Colorado action was reported to the Federation of State Medical Board, a national database used by medical boards in Florida and across the country to track physician disciplinary actions.
Weiss’ medical license is listed as “clear/active” on the Florida Department of Health’s website. Under the category of “discipline on file,” his license is spotless.
Weiss, 62, was born in Denver. He attended Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, did a residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and obtained his medical licenses in Florida in 1982. The Florida Medicine Association has granted Weiss the “Distinguished Physician” award the past four years. In 2006, Consumers’ Research Council of America named him one of “America’s Top Physicians.”
A complaint was filed against Weiss with the Colorado Medical Board in 2012. D.E. had been diagnosed with secondary progressive MS in 1996 with a history of seizures following a car accident. Weiss began treating her in his Gypsum office, “Next Step Institute,” in 2009. Weiss diagnosed her with relapsing and remitting MS and within three months ruled out secondary MS, according to state records.
He began treating her with Tysabri, a drug approved for patients with relapsing MS but not at the time for secondary MS, the board complaint says. One of the side effects of Tysabri is a life-threatening condition in which brain lesions form called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or “PML.” Doctors must closely watch for signs of PML, including deterioration of language, motor skills and appearance, the complaint says.
Under the Tysabri treatment, D.E.’s condition improved at first. But nine months later, D.E.’s daughter told Weiss she feared she was suffering symptoms of PML, including forgetfulness and poor motor control, the complaint says.
Weiss performed two MRIs on D.E. in February and May of 2011 and failed to diagnose “a subtle new brain lesion … possibly indicative of PML,” the complaint says. Weiss, who interpreted his own MRI studies, is not a radiologist or board certified in neuroradiology and is not qualified to interpret MRIs, the document says.
When D.E. complained of balance problems, Weiss prescribed Ampyra, even though the drug should not be used on patients with a history of seizures, the report says. He failed to diagnose PML even after D.E. had become dependent on a wheelchair, the report says. Weiss even increased the Tysabri treatments, it says.
When Weiss performed a third test of D.E.’s brain in June 2011, after D.E. struggled to speak, he found the lesion and diagnosed D.E. with PML, documents say. Her care was then transferred to the University of Colorado Hospital, where plasma exchange therapy was performed to remove the Tysabri from her system, but D.E. died two months later in September, the report says.
On March 19, 2014, Weiss was charged with two counts of unprofessional conduct, which encompassed 23 breaches in care, including misdiagnosis, treating D.E. with Tysabri, prescribing Ampyra, giving unqualified interpretations of MRIs and failing to document her mental status.
There were no hearings on the allegations because Weiss waived his right to a hearing by surrendering his license, according to records. Weiss sold his Colorado practice in July 2013 to Pithan.
On Aug. 19, Mercedes Aragon and Brenda Culhane sued Weiss in separate lawsuits alleging malpractice in Denver U.S. District Court.
In 2007, Culhane came to Weiss complaining of “upper extremity weakness.” Two years later, Aragon saw Weiss for neck pain and dizziness, the lawsuit says. In each case, Weiss diagnosed the women with relapsing remitting MS and prescribed Tysabri treatments for up to seven years. Culhane would get more than 100 Tysabri treatments.
Both experienced side effects including depression, the lawsuit says. Aragon suffered “full-body” pain. Weiss ordered 23 MRIs for Aragon and seven for Culhane on his MRI machine. After he bought Weiss’ practice, Pithan recommended that both women get second opinions about their diagnoses of MS and in both cases doctors found no evidence of MS, the lawsuit says.
A doctor determined that Aragon’s condition was related to aging, the lawsuit says.
According to Pithan’s lawsuit, Weiss knew or should have known that his patients were not suffering from MS.
“The MRI tests he prescribed for a condition that did not even exist were not medically acceptable or necessary,” Pithan’s lawsuit says.
