Board accuses doctor who worked in Chico

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Board accuses doctor who worked in Chico
By LARRY MITCHELL - Staff Writer
Posted: 07/12/2009 12:00:00 AM PDT

CHICO — The state Medical Board has filed an accusation against a doctor who worked in Chico, charging he was negligent in several cases.

The accusation seeks to have Dr. Vincent Mazzarella's license suspended or revoked.

Mazzarella, a general surgeon, was a member of the medical staff at Enloe Medical Center from October 2005 until January 2007.

In most cases where doctors face such accusations, they work with the board to establish an appropriate penalty, said Candis Cohen, a spokeswoman for the board. Sometimes, physicians contest the charges against them at hearings held before administrative-law judges, she said.

Mazzarella could not be reached for comment.

The accusation contains three causes of action charging gross negligence, repeated acts of negligence, and dishonesty.

The gross-negligence complaint concerns the case of a 67-year-old man with end-stage renal disease, who wanted to have dialysis at home. He needed a special catheter placed in his body.

According to the accusation, on April 28, 2006, Mazzarella performed laparoscopic surgery and in placing the catheter, accidentally perforated the patient's small intestine. He didn't recognize that an injury had occurred, the accusation states, and when the patient developed significant pain, another doctor had to repair the damage the next day.

The second cause of action concerns the cases of three different patients.

On Feb. 15, 2006, a 14-year-old girl was brought to Enloe complaining
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of abdominal pain. The accusation says Mazzarella rushed to do laparoscopic surgery, found what he thought was a tumor, then opened up the girl's abdomen and discovered the mass would be difficult to remove, so the patient's abdomen was sewn back up. Later, another doctor advised that a nasogastric tube should be inserted, which resolved the problem. The surgeries were unnecessary, according to the accusation.

On March 29, 2006, a 58-year-old woman was taken to Enloe with a possible abdominal injury from a traffic accident. According to the accusation, Mazzarella erred in performing laparoscopic surgery instead of laparotomy (making an incision in the abdomen), which was indicated in this situation. During the operation, he switched to laparotomy, the accusation stated. It also claims he erred by ordering a drug, Levophed, which is to be used in only the most dire circumstances.

Another case occurred on April 28, 2006, when an 81-year-old woman was diagnosed as having a large aortic aneurysm along with other problems. The accusation said Mazzarella performed major abdominal surgery on the woman without seeking the input of a cardiologist concerning the health of her heart and other matters. The patient died three days after the operation.

The charges described as "dishonesty/corruption" concern claims that Mazzarella lied to a California Highway Patrol officer and an investigator after he was stopped for speeding. He allegedly told them he was rushing to an emergency, which was untrue.

Also, he is accused of making false statements in a report about one of his operations.

Staff writer Larry Mitchell can be reached at 896-7759 or lmitchell@chicoer.com.

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