A Florida family’s recent legal victory underscores the urgent need for reform in the state’s medical oversight system, following a botched circumcision by a doctor whose license had been revoked.
On the day their son Gabriel was born, Michael Lubben and his wife sought the services of Dr. Berto Lopez, who came recommended by their midwife. However, what appeared to be a routine circumcision on February 15, 2021, turned into a nightmare when Dr. Lopez’s actions led to severe injury for the newborn. The procedure, performed at Lopez’s practice in West Palm Beach, left Gabriel in excruciating pain and resulted in the loss of a significant portion of his genital tissue.
Michael vividly recalls his helplessness as Dr. Lopez struggled to control the alarming bleeding for 45 minutes. It was only through consulting another doctor that the Lubben family discovered the extent of the damage: over half the head of Gabriel’s penis had been removed. Tragically, the tissue had been discarded, eliminating any possibility of repair, a fact that haunts the family to this day.
The revelation that Dr. Lopez was aware of his impending license revocation, which had been decided ten days prior to the procedure, heightened the family’s anguish. On the same day as Gabriel’s birth, Florida’s Board of Medicine had voted to revoke the doctor’s license, a decision that was not formally executed until February 23. This loophole allowed Lopez to continue practicing, a situation decried by the family’s attorney, Gary Cohen, as a grave failure of systemic oversight.
Cohen, representing the Lubbens in their lawsuit, argued Dr. Lopez’s awareness of his status as an unlicensed practitioner at the time of the incident. During a previous disciplinary hearing, the same physician had faced accusations of negligence leading to tragic outcomes for another patient, Onystei Castillo-Lopez. State records detailed her avoidable death due to Lopez’s lack of timely intervention during childbirth. This pattern of neglect calls into question the effectiveness of existing regulatory mechanisms designed to protect patients.
In 2004, Florida introduced a constitutional amendment, overwhelmingly approved by voters, aimed at disqualifying doctors with repeated malpractice from practice. However, as Cohen points out, the law’s enforcement remains convoluted due to the requirement for clear evidence of malpractice in settled lawsuits—a rarity that allows many practitioners to evade accountability. The lack of transparency in the disciplinary process further exacerbates the issue, leaving families like the Lubbens in precarious situations.
Michael Lubben expresses frustration over the opaque system that fails to adequately inform patients about potential risks associated with certain healthcare providers. Despite Lopez’s history of malpractice, there was no accessible repository of complaints or disciplinary actions that might have alerted the family prior to the irreversible injury inflicted upon Gabriel. This sentiment is echoed by Cohen, who asserts that the language used in the existing statute limits its practical application, thus undermining its intended purpose.
Today, the Lubbens’ victory in court, which resulted in a $100 million award, is a bittersweet acknowledgment of a journey fraught with obstacles. It serves not only as a personal vindication but also as a cautionary tale for lawmakers regarding the urgent need for reform. The Lubbens hope their case will galvanize efforts to fortify patient safeguards and ensure that no other family endures a similar ordeal.
This harrowing case highlights significant flaws within Florida’s medical regulatory system, begging for legislative revision to prevent future injustices. As Michael Lubben poignantly remarks, the current system remains broken, leaving families vulnerable to preventable tragedies.
Source: Nbcmiami
