Here is a report that was on last night on the news. I don't know if anyone caught it.

Last modified: 09:39 PM CDT on Friday, June 13, 2003

DA vows thorough study of doctor's files
Authorities seek links to deaths; physician has denied wrongdoing

06/14/2003

By HOLLY BECKA and SELWYN CRAWFORD / The Dallas Morning News

The medical file of a patient who died more than 10 months ago lay on the kitchen table at the doctor's Lakewood home, according to court records released Friday.

It was among the personal items and medical records seized Tuesday as authorities looked for evidence this week in their expanding investigation into a South Dallas medical clinic and its primary physician.

Dr. Daniel Maynard has been linked in court records to 11 deaths during the last three years. Relatives of a 12th possible victim who died in 1995 of a mixed drug overdose say they also have been talking to investigators.

Dr. Maynard has not been charged with a crime, and his lawyer insists that he has done nothing wrong.

On Friday, Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill promised an exhaustive investigation.

"We will review every patient file to see if any other of Dr. Maynard's patients died as a result of a drug overdose," he said.

The patient file of 29-year-old Christopher Baty, who died in August of cardiovascular disease and painkiller toxicity, was among the medical records seized from Dr. Maynard's home.

Diane Gifford, Mr. Baty's older sister, said her family would not discuss the case out of respect for their father, Jack, who discovered Mr. Baty's body.

"This is hard for my dad, and this just brings all that pain up again," Mrs. Gifford said. "My brother was only 29 years old when he died. That's a young age to lose a son."

Investigators raided Dr. Maynard's clinic, home, bank and a nearby pharmacy on Tuesday to see whether his prescription-writing practices contributed to any patients' deaths.

An affidavit describes Dr. Maynard, 57, as prescribing narcotics without a valid medical purpose and defrauding the state Medicare and Medicaid systems by charging for medical services that were never performed.

The state has since frozen his Medicaid reimbursements, and Dr. Maynard remains the subject of an ongoing investigation.

Mr. Hill said Friday that decisions that could limit Dr. Maynard's ability to prescribe narcotics and receive Medicare reimbursements could come next week.

"The licensing authorities are working expeditiously to determine whether Dr. Maynard's licenses should be suspended or revoked," he said.

A victim's sister

Patricia Bland of Illinois contends Dr. Maynard is at fault in her brother's death.
Bill Bryan, 44, a former schoolteacher from Grand Prairie, died in August 1995. His autopsy report lists Dr. Maynard as the last physician to treat Mr. Bryan.

Results of Mr. Bryan's autopsy show he had taken several drugs, including the painkiller Hydrocodone, Diazepam, also known as Valium, the muscle relaxant Carisoprodol and cocaine. His sister says she has talked to a district attorney's investigator and a Dallas police narcotics officer about him.

Ms. Bland said her brother was a star high school athlete, a coach and in "perfect health" until he hurt his back in an auto accident in 1989 or 1990.

A friend of her brother's told Mr. Bryan that he went to Dr. Maynard because he could "go in there and get any kind of medication" he wanted and that Mr. Bryan should see him.

It wasn't long, she said, before Mr. Bryan was hooked on pain medication. By the time he died, Ms. Bland said, her brother was often so high that he slurred his words during their frequent telephone conversations.

Mr. Bryan's widow could not be reached for comment. Ms. Bland said that she no longer speaks to her former sister-in-law because of a dispute that grew out of her brother's death.

Ms. Bland said the relationship between her brother and Dr. Maynard went beyond that of patient-doctor. She said that several times when she spoke to her brother, he told her he was either heading out or returning from playing golf with Dr. Maynard or hanging out with him. She said her brother's response to her questioning of Dr. Maynard's prescriptions was odd.

"He said, 'Oh, Danny knows what he's doing. I trust him.' I said, 'Danny?' " Ms. Bland said, adding that she was surprised her brother was on a first-name basis with his physician.

Several items seized

During the raid this week, investigators seized patients' files, records of prescriptions, computers, invoices, Drug Enforcement Administration audit records, billing records and insurance documents from the physician's office and the pharmacy.
At Dr. Maynard's home, investigators carted off the doctor's "statement" to the Dallas police regarding two women, along with a Medicaid newsletter and a sign-in sheet for his clinic. The items were found with other medical files on the kitchen table, records show.

Investigators seized a Texas State Board of Medical Examiners file from a bar in the kitchen, a controlled substance log and various records in a bag on the kitchen floor and documents that had been shredded.

They also found two files that investigators listed as "Texas Board of Medical Examiners investigation letter lawsuit documentation" in the family room and a medical periodical about reducing drug-related errors.

Meanwhile, Janice Houston, a Dallas police spokeswoman, said there is no internal investigation into the officers who worked off-duty security at Dr. Maynard's clinic.

"We don't have any indication that our officers were involved in any way," Ms. Houston said.

She said that several officers had worked security there and that they were hired for tasks such as theft and crime prevention.

"If we had reason to suspect that our officers were involved, action would have been taken. If any officer suspects criminal activity, we would hope that they would take the appropriate action.

"Because of the investigation and some of the things that are involved, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about anything else."

Staff writer Tanya Eiserer contributed to this report.

DallasNews.com