News Release — August 9, 2005

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August 9, 2005

Medical Board of California Accusation Leads
To Surrender of Las Vegas Physician's License

SACRAMENTO—Facing a formal Accusation of wrongdoing by the Medical Board of California, Las Vegas physician Michael Joseph Perel, M.D., formerly of Santa Monica, has surrendered his license to practice medicine. The stipulated surrender of his license was ordered on August 1, 2005 and was effective August 8, 2005. Medical Board Executive Director David Thornton stated, "The mission of the Medical Board is to protect healthcare consumers. We work diligently to achieve our mission by vigorously enforcing the Medical Practice Act."

The Medical Board accused Perel of violating multiple sections of the Business and Professions Code, including section 2234(b)(c)(d) (gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, and incompetence); section 2266 (failure to maintain adequate and accurate medical records); and sections 2261 and 2262 (alteration of medical records).

The Medical Board received a Business and Professions Code section 805 report from Riverside Medical Clinic advising that Perel had been terminated from employment as a dermatologist. The 805 report cited 22 incidents of behavior deemed by the peer review committee to qualify as unprofessional conduct detrimental to patient safety, to the delivery of patient care, and incompetence. Following the Medical Board's investigation, some of the violations alleged in the Accusation included: performing procedures at the wrong sites; excising lesions before the patients had been adequately anesthetized; failing to measure the size of lesions; failing to notice the lab abnormalities and the significance of these abnormalities; failing to perform additional biopsies on patients in a timely manner; using liquid nitrogen in a manner that resulted in second degree burns; throwing syringes in front of patients and nurses demonstrating a health and safety concern for everyone, a lack of professionalism and a worrisome anger management problem; failing to make correct diagnoses; performing punch biopsies although less scar-causing shave removals should have been performed; refusing to treat patients when he felt he was not being compensated enough; failing to perform appropriate physical examinations; failing to perform appropriate follow-up treatments on patients; and failing to maintain accurate and adequate patient charts which also contained false information.

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The mission of the Medical Board is to protect healthcare consumers through the proper licensing and regulation of physicians and surgeons and certain allied healthcare professions and through the vigorous, objective enforcement of the Medical Practice Act.

If you have a question or complaint about the healthcare you are receiving, the board encourages you to visit its Web site at www.caldocinfo.ca.gov or for questions call the Consumer Information Line at (916) 263-2382, or with complaints call (800) 633-2322.

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