Patient advocates have long shared more information about potentially dangerous physicians with the California Medical Board.
The survey averages three years, during which time the majority of doctors are allowed to continue practicing, with no complaints or indications of investigation on the board’s website.
Sharen Johnson said it was something that happened to her in the summer of 2021.
“I checked to make sure he was approved, he’s in good condition,” Johnson said.
There is no way for the public to know that doctors are currently under investigation.
TJ Watkins, California Members’ Medical Board
She found a beautiful record of Dr. Arian Mauravi in Laguna Beach. She had surgery with him for a revision of the C-section, but said she was unhappy with the outcome. Three weeks after the surgery, she learned that she had posted a medical board charge on her profile on Mowlavi in connection with the death of one of the patients three years ago. Johnson said she was unsure.
“If we’re going to put our lives in doctors’ hands, we should know their history,” Johnson said.
Medical Board member TJ Watkins is concerned about the lack of patient transparency.
“There is no way for the public to know that doctors are currently under investigation,” Watkins explained.
At the board’s quarterly meeting on February 14, Watkins hopes to vote for the preparation of a legislative packet aimed at providing public notice to the medical board’s website when doctors are being investigated. I’m here. This change must be approved by the state legislature.
He says something similar has already been done by another board managed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, which also regulates the Medical Board.
“The contractor’s licensing committee has the ability to make it very clear that these are contractors currently under investigation,” Watkins said. “Therefore, contractors are held to a higher standard than doctors who take scalpels in your heart. That’s an unacceptable standard.”
The Medical Board has repeatedly told NBC4 that it is not possible to address or even confirm active investigations because of the confidentiality of the law. So Watkins says he wants the board to vote for a proposed legislative change.
Meanwhile, last year’s bankruptcy documents showed that Mowlavi’s insurance company paid $6 million to more than 30 patients, including Johnson.
He was also charged with criminal charges by the Orange County DA office. He pleaded not guilty. A court order as a condition of his release without bail prohibits him from performing major surgery under general anesthesia until the trial is over.
Currently, the Medical Board website shows that his license is “renewed and currently”, but to additional charges filed, probation by suspension, and court orders restricting his medical practice. There is also a mention of this.
Mowlavi is scheduled to appear before an administrative law judge in October.
“I don’t know that legislators need to be involved, but the law has to be changed because they have to protect patients,” Johnson said.
Mowlavi is scheduled for another pre-trial hearing next month. NBC4 reached out to his lawyers and the Public Defenders office for comment, but did not respond.
The quarterly Medical Board meeting will be held in Fresno on February 13th and 14th. The board provides links for the public to watch online.
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