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Ep. 6: How “Dr. Death” Got Away With It: Broken Reporting, Hidden Data & NPDB Secrets with Dr. Robert Oshel
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How did “Dr. Death” Christopher Duntsch keep getting hired by hospitals… even after maiming and killing patients?
In Episode 6 of AdvoKAYte: Holding Healthcare Accountable, medical malpractice attorney and host Kay Van Wey talks with Dr. Robert “Bob” Oshel, former senior leader at the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), about how a system designed to catch dangerous doctors failed to stop Dr. Death.
Using the Dr. Death case as a roadmap, Kay and Dr. Oshel break down:
- How Duntsch was able to move from hospital to hospital despite catastrophic outcomes
- How hospitals can quietly push out problem physicians without triggering NPDB reporting
- The legal tricks (like 29-day suspensions) used to avoid filing reportable actions
- Why only about half of U.S. hospitals have EVER reported a clinical privileges action
- The stunning reality that 1.8% of doctors account for half of all malpractice payouts—yet most never face serious discipline
- Why patients cannot access NPDB data on their own doctors
- What would have to change—legally and politically—to prevent “the next Dr. Death”
You’ll also learn:
- What the National Practitioner Data Bank is and why Congress created it
- How hospitals, medical boards, and insurers are supposed to use it
- Why weak enforcement, loopholes, and money incentives keep patients in the dark
This episode will change the way you think about hospital accountability, “bad apples,” and the illusion that “someone must be watching.”
About Our Guest – Dr. Robert Oshel
- PhD in Government, specializing in public law and research methodology
- Former director-level leader at the National Practitioner Data Bank, overseeing research and secretarial review of disputed reports
- Longtime volunteer with Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, analyzing national malpractice and disciplinary data to expose patterns of danger and inaction
Subscribe to AdvoKAYte: Holding Healthcare Accountable
New episodes weekly with Kay Van Wey, digging into real cases like Dr. Death and exposing how the system fails patients and how we can fight back.
If this episode opened your eyes, like, comment, and share.
Tell us in the comments: Should the Dr. Death case have pushed Congress to make doctor discipline data public?
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