A Broward doctor diagnosed a woman, 27, as having a stomach virus. She died 3 days later
A Dania Beach doctor who works in Broward and Palm Beach will pay a total of $14,371 and have a reprimand issued against his license after a state Board of Medicine review of a 27-year-old woman’s 2019 death.
This disciplinary action, which officially posted on Friday, is the first in the five years that Myron Beer has been licensed in Florida. New York, where Beer was licensed from 1980 through 2020, shows no public disciplinary action in the years covered by the state’s online search, 1990-present.
According to the Florida Department of Health administrative complaint, “M.M.,” a 27-year-old who had two kidney transplants, saw Beer on Dec. 19, 2019. She was “feeling sick and weak” with symptoms of “fever, vomiting, nose bleeding and shaking chills.”
Beer, the complaint said, did a flu test and diagnosed M.M. with a stomach virus.
The complaint said Beer:
▪ Didn’t check her blood pressure to see “if her hypertension was a new symptom”
▪ Didn’t do a complete blood count, chemistry profile or urinalysis
▪ Didn’t order she be taken to Emergency Care, “given Patient M.M.’s past medical history and current medication;”
▪ “Did not investigate more serious and life-threatening causes of Patient M.M.’s symptoms, given M.M.’s medical history”
The next day, M.M. was found unconscious and taken to Memorial West Hospital. The day after that, she was declared brain dead. On Dec. 22, 2019, the complaint said, M.M. was taken off life support.
The complaint said Beer committed “medical malpractice” by failing to do the above.
Beer punishment
The final order from the Board of Medicine accepts a settlement agreement that says in addition to a reprimand, the doctor:
▪ Has been fined $7,500;
▪ Must pay $6,871.64 to reimburse the Department of Health its investigative and prosecutorial costs;
▪ Do two hours of continuing medical education (CME) in Laboratory Medicine; five hours in managing transplant patients; five hours in risk management; and five hours in hypertension management.
This story was originally published February 22, 2022 at 12:38 PM.
