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American Morning

'Paging Dr. Gupta'

Aired February 23, 2004 - 08:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, police believe that a man who was charged with practicing medicine without a license may be responsible for the death of a woman who disappeared last year. The body of Maria Cruz was discovered last week buried in a concrete tomb in a Newark, New Jersey home. That home was once owned by this man, Dean Faello. Authorities believe he has since fled to Costa Rica. Such cases may be rare, but they are frightening. How can patients be sure their doctor is legit?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from CNN Center with some important advice.

Good morning, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Anderson.

Frightening and rare. Those are the exactly two words probably to best describe this. There are many anecdotal stories of fraudulent doctors over the years. Interestingly, in our reporting, we found that the American Medical Association or any other organizing committee does not keep track of fraudulent doctors. So many these stories are anecdotal. It's important to remember that it is very rare as well. But it is possible for someone to pose as a doctor, to pose as an impostor. Cosmetic surgery, usually the field that attracts the most impostor doctors.

Let's go through some tips here, interestingly, to try and find out if your doctor is legitimate. This what a lot of people wonder when they hear a story like this. Check the license and good standing. You can get that either from the office itself, the doctor's office, asking the doctor about the license. Usually, they are posted on the wall. Use the American Medical Association. They are going to have a listing on their Web site of all the active and practicing doctors. The state medical board is probably going to be your most valuable Web site. It's going to give you all kinds of information, including recent sanctions against a doctor, and get a comprehensive doctor report as well. This is something you can get from some of these for-pay Web sites.

One of the ones that we looked at was health grades.com. That's a pretty good Web site. For $6.95, you can get all the recent information on your doctor. There are a lot of doctors practicing with suspended licenses, and more common than impostor doctors. That's more of a concern to people. There are ways to try to check for that as well. The state medical board, again, is going to be your best source of information there. They're going to track doctors for revoked or suspended licenses, probation, practicing beyond the scope of training, drug or alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, litigation pending against the doctor. Again, all these situations pretty rare. For the most part, when you are going to a hospital, when you go to a doctor, you're going to get a doctor who is in good standing, but if you feel like checking, here are some ways to do it -- Anderson.

COOPER: Sanjay, why are cosmetic procedures more susceptible to fraud?

GUPTA: Well, you know, there's a lot of interesting stories about that. One story actually has to do with Mr. Mexico, a former bodybuilder, who went to a doctor in South Beach, Dr. Rinaldo Silvestre (ph), now known as the butcher of South Beach. But essentially, this guy went to the doctor for pectoral implants -- bodybuilders sometimes get those -- woke up, and in his words, was mutilated and actually fit with women's breast implants, size c, sort of an interesting side note there. Silvestre was charged with a lot of things, including aggravated assault, but skipped town, and for four years has been on the loose. Cosmetic surgeons, such as Dr. Silvestre, a lot of concerns because of a few things.

One is that if you think about cosmetic procedures and why they attract impostor doctors, these doctors are less likely to interact with other doctors. So they're going to be less the subject of scrutiny. Patients pay out of pocket. So less of a paper trail with the insurance companies, and they are doing this for money and the cosmetic procedures are some of the more profitable procedures -- Anderson.

COOPER: And I guess any advice on how to either tell if your doctor is legit or not or ways to test it?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I think there is some sort of realistic things and just some gut things when it comes to trying to figure out if your doctor is legitimate. I think it's worth reinforcing that most doctors are going to be perfectly legitimate, and that's the good news.

But go with your instincts. If you have some concerns about your doctor, you may want to start asking some questions. If the doctor refuses or cannot answer the questions, that might be a bit of a red flag. Second opinions are not something most doctors are offended by. If you are concerned about the advice that you're getting, go ahead and get a second opinion.

Also doing your homework and research. It's amazing, Anderson, people will do the amount of homework and research they do to buy a house. When it comes to their health care, when it comes to their doctors and their hospitals, they do less of it. It's important to do that. If you think you've been a victim of fraud, do talk to the state medical board. You can prevent it for people down the road -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, good advice, Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired February 23, 2004 - 08:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, police believe that a man who was charged with practicing medicine without a license may be responsible for the death of a woman who disappeared last year. The body of Maria Cruz was discovered last week buried in a concrete tomb in a Newark, New Jersey home. That home was once owned by this man, Dean Faello. Authorities believe he has since fled to Costa Rica. Such cases may be rare, but they are frightening. How can patients be sure their doctor is legit?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from CNN Center with some important advice.

Good morning, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Anderson.

Frightening and rare. Those are the exactly two words probably to best describe this. There are many anecdotal stories of fraudulent doctors over the years. Interestingly, in our reporting, we found that the American Medical Association or any other organizing committee does not keep track of fraudulent doctors. So many these stories are anecdotal. It's important to remember that it is very rare as well. But it is possible for someone to pose as a doctor, to pose as an impostor. Cosmetic surgery, usually the field that attracts the most impostor doctors.

Let's go through some tips here, interestingly, to try and find out if your doctor is legitimate. This what a lot of people wonder when they hear a story like this. Check the license and good standing. You can get that either from the office itself, the doctor's office, asking the doctor about the license. Usually, they are posted on the wall. Use the American Medical Association. They are going to have a listing on their Web site of all the active and practicing doctors. The state medical board is probably going to be your most valuable Web site. It's going to give you all kinds of information, including recent sanctions against a doctor, and get a comprehensive doctor report as well. This is something you can get from some of these for-pay Web sites.

One of the ones that we looked at was health grades.com. That's a pretty good Web site. For $6.95, you can get all the recent information on your doctor. There are a lot of doctors practicing with suspended licenses, and more common than impostor doctors. That's more of a concern to people. There are ways to try to check for that as well. The state medical board, again, is going to be your best source of information there. They're going to track doctors for revoked or suspended licenses, probation, practicing beyond the scope of training, drug or alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, litigation pending against the doctor. Again, all these situations pretty rare. For the most part, when you are going to a hospital, when you go to a doctor, you're going to get a doctor who is in good standing, but if you feel like checking, here are some ways to do it -- Anderson.

COOPER: Sanjay, why are cosmetic procedures more susceptible to fraud?

GUPTA: Well, you know, there's a lot of interesting stories about that. One story actually has to do with Mr. Mexico, a former bodybuilder, who went to a doctor in South Beach, Dr. Rinaldo Silvestre (ph), now known as the butcher of South Beach. But essentially, this guy went to the doctor for pectoral implants -- bodybuilders sometimes get those -- woke up, and in his words, was mutilated and actually fit with women's breast implants, size c, sort of an interesting side note there. Silvestre was charged with a lot of things, including aggravated assault, but skipped town, and for four years has been on the loose. Cosmetic surgeons, such as Dr. Silvestre, a lot of concerns because of a few things.

One is that if you think about cosmetic procedures and why they attract impostor doctors, these doctors are less likely to interact with other doctors. So they're going to be less the subject of scrutiny. Patients pay out of pocket. So less of a paper trail with the insurance companies, and they are doing this for money and the cosmetic procedures are some of the more profitable procedures -- Anderson.

COOPER: And I guess any advice on how to either tell if your doctor is legit or not or ways to test it?

GUPTA: Well, you know, I think there is some sort of realistic things and just some gut things when it comes to trying to figure out if your doctor is legitimate. I think it's worth reinforcing that most doctors are going to be perfectly legitimate, and that's the good news.

But go with your instincts. If you have some concerns about your doctor, you may want to start asking some questions. If the doctor refuses or cannot answer the questions, that might be a bit of a red flag. Second opinions are not something most doctors are offended by. If you are concerned about the advice that you're getting, go ahead and get a second opinion.

Also doing your homework and research. It's amazing, Anderson, people will do the amount of homework and research they do to buy a house. When it comes to their health care, when it comes to their doctors and their hospitals, they do less of it. It's important to do that. If you think you've been a victim of fraud, do talk to the state medical board. You can prevent it for people down the road -- Anderson.

COOPER: All right, good advice, Sanjay Gupta, thanks very much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com