The violations that got a Broward gynecology office’s license suspended
A dearth of drugs required for patient safety during surgical procedures and a risk management program that was deficient at best, non-existent at worse, got a Fort Lauderdale area gynecologist office’s surgery license suspended.
The 15-day suspension for Lauderdale-By-The-Sea’s OBGYN By The Sea, 265 Commercial Blvd. began Tuesday.
Demonstrating the turgid pace at medical discipline can occur in Florida, the suspension that began Tuesday came after a Dec. 20 Florida Department of Health administrative complaint that detailed violations found March 28, 2023.
State records say back then, OBGYN By the Sea’s boss company, VitalMD Group Holding, was run by President Dr. Javier Vizoso; Executive Chairman Glenn Salkind; and Vice Presidents Dr. Kerry Kuhn, Dr. Mark Grenitz, Dr. James Esserman and Dr. David Adler; Executive Director Francisco Leon; and Secretary Dr. Edward Fidalgo.
Officially, by the settlement agreement, OBGYN admits none of the violations listed in the complaint, but also that the suspension is “fair,appropriate, and acceptable.”
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Not enough drugs or preparation
OBGYN By the Sea’s office surgery registration license allowed for Level II surgery, which the Department of Health defined as a patient being able to “tolerate unpleasant procedures,” but with enough consciousness to respond to spoken requests or touch stimulation.
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Here are some of the issues listed in the administrative complaint.
▪ On the inspection day, OBGYN “was noncompliant with the risk management program, or...did not have a functional risk management program.”
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▪ At least one surgeon didn’t tell a patient in writing what hospital the surgeon had privileges to do the same procedure or the hospital where the surgeon has a transfer agreement. Office surgery centers aren’t hospitals, and some surgical problems are simply too much for an office surgery center to handle.
▪ “Several staff members were not included on the office surgery registration.” An office surgery center’s full staff should be listed online with its license entry on the Florida Department of Health site.
▪ The crash cart, the medication-loaded emergency cart, didn’t have adenosine and amiodarone, both of which treat irregular heartbeats; epinephrine, which can cut blood loss during surgery, and calcium chloride which can be used as a backup for some epinephrine functions; dopamine, which can have multiple functions, according to the Cleveland Clinic; and lidocaine, an anesthetic, “appropriate for cardiac administration,” the department’s administrative complaint said.
▪ The place didn’t have any benzodiazepine, which, the DEA says is a “depressant that produces sedation and hypnosis, relieves anxiety and muscle spasms, and reduces seizures.”
This story was originally published July 4, 2025 at 11:45 AM.
