Henderson doc found guilty of malpractice

Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005 | 7:44 a.m.

byline By Molly Ball

A Henderson urologist was found guilty Friday of malpractice and reprimanded by the state Board of Medical Examiners.

Dr. Michael Kaplan was one of five physicians, two from Clark County, whose disciplinary cases the board heard at its meeting.

Kaplan received the lightest possible punishment that the board can issue for a finding of malpractice. His medical license was not restricted, suspended or revoked.

In 2001 Kaplan allegedly put a stent in the wrong side of a 61-year-old woman's bladder, then perforated her bowel trying to fix the mistake, leading to a pelvic abscess.

The other Clark County physician whose case the board considered behind closed doors was Dr. Rustica Bernadino of Las Vegas. Bernadino reached a settlement with the board for allegedly failing to order an immediate ultrasound for a 50-year-old woman admitted to the hospital with a blood clot in her leg.

Of three Northern Nevada doctors whose cases came before the board, one was acquitted, one lost his medical license and one reached a settlement.

The board found that Dr. Robert Fliegler of Carson City was not guilty of malpractice in a case in which he allegedly did not order CT scans for a woman who later died from a torn aorta.

The board revoked the license of Dr. Tarek Greiss, a Reno anesthesiologist addicted to prescription narcotics who has since moved out of state.

And the board reached a settlement with Dr. Catherine Goring of Reno, who was accused of malpractice for failing to conduct sufficient blood tests on a patient being treated with lithium. The patient was hospitalized for lithium toxicity in 2002.