All licensed physicians in the State of Texas are required to understand how prescribed drugs work, the therapeutic purposes for prescribing them, and when they shouldn’t be ordered—that’s called a contraindication. When a doctor prescribes a medication for which there isn’t a therapeutic purpose or when there’s a contraindication, it violates the standard of care.
These patient safety rules are true for every type of doctor, from pediatricians to geriatric physicians. Busy doctors may carelessly order a new prescription that’s contraindicated when the patient is taking a different type of drug. That’s called a medical error.
In one particular medical specialty though, pain management, the Texas Medical Board and even criminal authorities have their eyes on a different type of medical error—doctors writing prescriptions for drugs when there’s no therapeutic purpose. In other words, patients don’t need them, and they could actually be doing harm.
A Conroe pain management physician Emad Bishai, M.D. recently found himself in the center of attention in exactly this type of situation.
Dr. Bishai practiced pain medicine at 1006 Windsor Lakes Bouldevard, Suite 150, Conroe, Texas 77384. According to his public profile with the Texas Medical Board, he finished medical school in Egypt before doing a psychology residency and anesthesia pain medicine fellowship in the United States. Dr. Bishai had medical staff privileges at Conroe Regional Medical Center, Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital, and Tomball Regional Medical Center.
He was arrested in November 2019 on charges related to overdose deaths of four patients. On November 18, 2019, the Texas Medical Board followed suit with an order to temporarily suspend Dr. Bishai’s medical license. The details aren’t yet public, but they eventually will be after the Board completes its investigation.
This isn’t the first time that Dr. Bishai has attracted attention from the Texas Medical Board for medication-related quality of care concerns. On June 10, 2016, Dr. Bishai and the Board entered into an agreed remedial plan that required him to, among other things, attend additional training in how to manage anticoagulation medications. That disciplinary action stemmed from Dr. Bishai performing an epidural injection on a patient while she was on anticoagulation therapy. The patient had disclosed this information on an intake form, but Dr. Bishai denied knowing about it. As a result of this issue, the patient developed a dangerous hematoma.
In my practice as a Texas medical malpractice attorney, I’ve represented injured patients in cases involving all kinds of medication errors. Some have been by pain medicine doctors, others have involved pharmacy errors, and still others involved overmedication in hospital or nursing home settings.
If you’ve been seriously injured because of an overdose or medication error, then contact a top-rated Houston, Texas medical malpractice lawyer for help in evaluating your potential case.
