Va. doctor in malpractice suit has history of violations
VA officials declined to say when they became aware of Ostman's disciplinary record.
The plaintiff, Miriam Cenedese of Portsmouth, is seeking $1.875 million in damages. She filed the lawsuit in federal court after an administrative claim for compensation was denied by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
He is alleged to have used a "blunt dissection," pulling the patient's organs apart with his hands rather than using scissors, resulting in the injuries to her intestine and bladder.
Citing privacy policies, VA officials declined to say whether they knew Ostman was under investigation by the state Board of Medicine when he was hired in June 2003 as a staff physician.
He is still on the medical staff at the Hampton center.
State board reprimands, fines and continuing medical education requirements do not bar a doctor from VA employment, she said.
Jim Strickland, a former Army medic and retired hospital administrator in Savannah, Ga., who runs the website VA Watchdog Today, said the Ostman case is not unusual.
"Doctors that have problems, that have had civilian issues, can get hooked up in VA hospitals," he said. "The real issue here, from my perspective, is that once they're entrenched, you can't get rid of them."
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