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Imminent Danger
Illustration by Golden Cosmos
In 2016, Amy Lam was at an exciting time in her life. She’d recently graduated from Columbia journalism school and was expecting her second child. But what was supposed to be a joyful moment took a terrible turn when she was brought to Harlem Hospital shortly after giving birth at home. Medical records would later say she bled to death under the care of several physicians.
One of those doctors was Dr. Thomas Byrne, an OB/GYN with an alarming past that spans more than three decades. In 1990, New York health officials had declared him to be an “imminent danger” to the public and revoked his medical license. So why was he still allowed to practice in multiple states?
This multiplatform audio and digital series takes an in-depth look at Byrne’s long and troubling career and exposes systemic failings in health care that allow doctors with questionable track records to hop from state to state, and to even regain a license to practice after it had been taken away. Karen Shakerdge’s reporting reveals how the safeguards that are supposed to protect the public are broken, and how state medical boards, hospitals and a federal database of information on doctors known as the National Practitioner Data Bank can often fail patients.
Listen to the podcast episodes and read the accompanying articles below.
Episode 1: Wrongful Death
Episode 2: License Revoked
Episode 3: The Gatekeepers
Episode 4: Loopholes
Episode 5: New York, Again
Latest Articles Tagged "imminent danger"
News
No misconduct charges for NY doctor with long record of malpractice allegations
Dr. Thomas J. Byrne was the focus of a Gothamist investigation into how physicians are able to keep practicing despite facing discipline and accusations of medical malpractice. Byrne was stripped of his NY medical license in 1991 only to have it reinstated decades later.
By
Caroline Lewis
News
The federal government has a database to catch bad doctors. Why don’t NY and NJ check it more often?
Medical boards in both states check the National Practitioner Data Bank less often than many other populous states.
By
Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky
News
When NY doctor leaves trail of injuries, a father asks, ‘When are they gonna say enough’s enough?'
An OB-GYN named Thomas J. Byrne was stripped of his New York medical license in 1991 for what the health department called gross negligence, among other charges. For his former patients and their families, the restoration of his license in the state stirs up feeling of anger and betrayal.
By
Karen Shakerdge
and
Christopher Werth
News
She felt ‘like a human septic tank.’ Do loopholes let doctors go unreported after allegations?
Patient safety experts are concerned that loopholes in the federal system for physician oversight allow some doctors with questionable track records to avoid further scrutiny.
By
Karen Shakerdge
,
Nsikan Akpan
and
Christopher Werth
News
‘No idea what he had done to me’: After OB-GYN lost his NY license, allegations continued in other states
Dr. Thomas J. Byrne was stripped of medical license in New York in 1991. Records show the Oklahoma medical board initially denied him a license to practice. Months later, it reversed that decision.
By
Karen Shakerdge
,
Nsikan Akpan
and
Christopher Werth
News
Patients were injured, died under care of NY doctor. He moved to New Mexico and kept practicing.
A New York state investigation in the 1990s found that 11 patients, including five newborns, had been harmed while under the care of an OB-GYN named Thomas J. Byrne. Health officials revoked his license. How was he able to keep practicing elsewhere?
By
Karen Shakerdge
,
Nsikan Akpan
and
Christopher Werth
News
One doctor’s decadeslong trail of injured women, babies began in New York
Part 1 of Imminent Danger, a five-part investigative series, examines the track record of one OB-GYN across several states and what it says about how doctors are vetted before being allowed to see patients.
By
Karen Shakerdge
,
Nsikan Akpan
and
Christopher Werth
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