Doctor still at work after hiring hitman- State takes slow steps to revoke license (Texas)

A Houston doctor sentenced in a murder-for-hire plot earlier this year is continuing to practice medicine while state regulators fight to revoke his license.

May 2003 -- more than a year after his trial -- is the earliest that Dr. Armando Sanchez could lose his license under the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners' much-criticized disciplinary process. Sanchez practices general and occupational medicine at Clinica Azteca at 900 Wayside.

Sanchez, 47, was arrested and charged in October 2000 with solicitation of capital murder, a first-degree felony, after he paid a uniformed Houston police officer to have a former patient killed. Sources in the investigation said the patient and Sanchez filed a fraudulent worker's compensation claim and the patient was irate regarding his smaller portion of the profit.

In February, Sanchez pleaded no contest to the charge, received 10 years' deferred adjudication and 10 years' community supervision, and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and perform 500 hours of community service.

The board voted to temporarily suspend Sanchez's license this summer, but Sanchez won a temporary restraining order against the board, allowing him to continue working.

The board countered by filing a complaint with the state Office of Administrative Hearings, a centralized judicial agency that serves various state agencies. A judge will hear the case Jan. 15 and make a recommendation in time for the board's May meeting. The board typically adheres to the judge's recommended course of action, although it is not required to do so.

"We have in the last six months initiated major organizational change to speed up the process," said board spokeswoman Jill Wiggins, acknowledging past complaints that the board didn't act swiftly enough. The board recently committed to a goal of completing investigations within 125 days of receiving a complaint and resolving issues within 125 days of the matter coming to a board attorney's attention.

However, disciplinary proceedings can drag on for months or years as doctors appeal to higher powers, such as the Office of Administrative Hearings, or seek civil action in district court.

"Once it goes to the state Office of Administrative Hearings, it's out of our hands," Wiggins said. "That process we do not have control over."

The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners says grounds for disciplinary action include violation of state laws, conviction of a felony or "unprofessional or dishonorable conduct," Wiggins said.

In its complaint about Sanchez to the state administrative law judge, the board wrote, "Those crimes which the board considers directly related to the practice of medicine include, but are not limited to ... murder."

Documents from the board detail how Sanchez tried to arrange for the murder of a longtime patient who he said had been following and harassing him.

A friend arranged for Sanchez to meet with Houston police officer Glen Hill to discuss the situation. Hill was surprised when Sanchez told him it would be easy to "take care of the patient" with a gun equipped with a silencer: "You could just shoot him, boom, boom, boom."

Over the next four days, Hill had several meetings and phone conversations with Sanchez. Sanchez paid Hill $8,000 up front to kill the patient and promised $5,000 to $7,000 more once the job was done. When Hill told Sanchez the patient had been killed as agreed, Sanchez promised to have the rest of the money the following day.

After the meeting with Hill, Sanchez was confronted by other police officers and arrested after a short foot chase.

Sanchez declined an interview request through a representative; the lawyer representing him before the board could not be reached. However, Chip Lewis, Sanchez's lawyer in the criminal matter, disagreed with the board's attempts to revoke the doctor's license.

The reason Sanchez received deferred adjudication -- an unusually light sentence for solicitation of capital murder -- was because evidence showed he was trying to protect his family and staff by hiring a contract killer, Lewis said.

"We presented evidence the (former patient) was really a stalker. He threatened the doctor and his family, he threatened his staff. The judgment of the district attorney's office was, they really didn't have much of a case," Lewis said. "If the medical board wants to suspend him for protecting his family, I don't think that is conduct unbecoming to a doctor."

This is why the system should be called,"The Criminal Just-US System". Simply because as I have stated in this forum before,Justice is swift in most cases for the average man and laws are in put into place to keep the average person at bay but those with power and money control this country and protect themselves at the cost to the rest of us.Ethics apply only to the average,poor and those who really want to be honest.
Lawyers are taking this country to the pits of hell as fast as they can.It is nothing more than a play on words and we all know how good the Clintons and the Trial Lawyers of America are at this.America is being sold out everyday by trial lawyers and the rich,we are nothing more than pawns in their chess match.They use us to fight their wars and protect them then they throw us out to the wolves.
We reap what we sow and that is why we have the likes of Saddam and Bin Laden at our door now, we invented them.

He should lose his license for being just plain stupid. He could have called the Cops.....oops he would have to admit he was a crook.

I don't know, you think going to a Dr that puts contracts out on his pts is a good idea. I bet everyone pays their deductible.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.