Oregon doctor ordered to Australia to face trial on manslaughter charges in patient deaths
Date: 07/15/2008 10:40 PM
By WILLIAM McCALL
Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) _ An Oregon doctor charged with manslaughter in the deaths of three patients at an Australian hospital has been ordered to return to Australia to stand trial.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Hubel said Tuesday he had ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to return Dr. Jayant Patel to Australian authorities by July 21.
The Marshals Service said the agency had begun extradition but declined to give any details.
Dale Ortmann, a marshals spokesman, also declined to release any details at an evening news conference Tuesday on the steps of the federal courthouse in Portland.
But Ortmann said that, in general, marshals can accompany a prisoner to a foreign country or authorities from the nation requesting extradition can handle the transfer themselves.
Patel worked at the Bundaberg Base Hospital in the Australian state of Queensland after leaving Kaiser Permanente hospital in Portland in 2001 following a series of lawsuits and an investigation that led the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners to restrict his practice statewide.
The national news agency, the Australian Associated Press, reported that U.S. marshals were expected to hand Patel over to two senior Queensland police officers for the flight back to Australia.
Patel was arrested March 11 by FBI agents acting on an extradition request from Queensland authorities following a public outcry in Australia that began in 2005 over his role in the deaths of patients at Bundaberg.
The complaints included failure to stop internal bleeding in one patient who later died, tearing another patient's esophagus and removing healthy tissue while leaving cancerous tissue behind.
In addition to manslaughter, Patel is charged with fraud and causing grievous bodily harm in Australia. He could face a possible life sentence if convicted.
Patel, 58, is a U.S. citizen who was born in India and trained in New York, where he was disciplined by the state early in his career for failing to examine patients before operating on them.
He moved to Portland to join Kaiser Permanente in 1989 and was sued several times — including at least one lawsuit that is still pending. The hospital reviewed 79 separate complaints against him before the state restricted his practice.
The AAP said the extradition had been awaiting the approval of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By WILLIAM McCALL
Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) _ An Oregon doctor charged with manslaughter in the deaths of three patients at an Australian hospital has been ordered to return to Australia to stand trial.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis Hubel said Tuesday he had ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to return Dr. Jayant Patel to Australian authorities by July 21.
The Marshals Service said the agency had begun extradition but declined to give any details.
Dale Ortmann, a marshals spokesman, also declined to release any details at an evening news conference Tuesday on the steps of the federal courthouse in Portland.
But Ortmann said that, in general, marshals can accompany a prisoner to a foreign country or authorities from the nation requesting extradition can handle the transfer themselves.
Patel worked at the Bundaberg Base Hospital in the Australian state of Queensland after leaving Kaiser Permanente hospital in Portland in 2001 following a series of lawsuits and an investigation that led the Oregon Board of Medical Examiners to restrict his practice statewide.
The national news agency, the Australian Associated Press, reported that U.S. marshals were expected to hand Patel over to two senior Queensland police officers for the flight back to Australia.
Patel was arrested March 11 by FBI agents acting on an extradition request from Queensland authorities following a public outcry in Australia that began in 2005 over his role in the deaths of patients at Bundaberg.
The complaints included failure to stop internal bleeding in one patient who later died, tearing another patient's esophagus and removing healthy tissue while leaving cancerous tissue behind.
In addition to manslaughter, Patel is charged with fraud and causing grievous bodily harm in Australia. He could face a possible life sentence if convicted.
Patel, 58, is a U.S. citizen who was born in India and trained in New York, where he was disciplined by the state early in his career for failing to examine patients before operating on them.
He moved to Portland to join Kaiser Permanente in 1989 and was sued several times — including at least one lawsuit that is still pending. The hospital reviewed 79 separate complaints against him before the state restricted his practice.
The AAP said the extradition had been awaiting the approval of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Labels: doctor manslaughter, medical malpractice, Oregon doctor extradition, patient deaths
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