The Texas Medical Board has issued a temporary suspension of a Frisco anesthesiologist’s medical license after a woman’s death at a med spa in July.
Dr. Michael Patrick Gallagher was identified as the medical director of the Luxe Med Spa in Wortham despite his practice being 106 miles away in Collin County. Jenifer Cleveland died in a nearby hospital after becoming unresponsive at the spa on July 10.
The 47-year-old had allegedly been administered IV therapy by the spa’s owner, Amber Johnson. She had been receiving these infusions on a weekly basis for an unknown length of time.
“TPN electrolyte solution requires a prescription and is known to cause complications due to the potassium chloride in it,” the Texas Medical Board concluded while considering the case, according to WFAA.
Noting that no protocols or procedures had been put into place for the IV therapy, the board also found that “the staff at the med spa were performing treatments that required medical licensure.”
Due to the alleged negligence on the part of Gallagher, who was said to have visited Luxe Med Spa only twice prior to Cleveland’s death, the Texas Medical Board suspended his license after ruling he presented a “continuing threat to the public health, safety, and welfare of Texas citizens.”
Cleveland’s body was sent to Dallas for an autopsy, and although the final report lists the manner of her death as “unknown,” the medical examiner found she had died of a sudden cardiac event for which the “administration of intravenous therapy cannot be definitely ruled-in or ruled-out as contributory at this time.”
Cleveland had worked as a sales representative at the radio station KNES Texas 99.1 with broadcaster Buzz Russell.
“You want to pinch yourself,” Russell told WFAA. “This can’t be happening. This is not real. She can’t be gone.”
“She was immensely popular in town,” Russell said in an interview with KWTX. “She was popular from previous jobs that she had. It wasn’t just the simple fact that she was a part of the radio station, Jenifer was kind of a force of nature.”
A formal hearing regarding Gallagher’s involvement and responsibility in the incident is expected to be scheduled soon, but he faces no criminal charges at this time.
As previously covered in The Dallas Express, last year’s arrest of Dallas anesthesiologist Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz Jr. for allegedly planting drugged IV bags outside operating rooms spurred the recent passing of a new law requiring the Texas Medical Board to regularly check for disciplinary action taken against doctors.
House Bill 1998 closed several loopholes that allowed physicians licensed in Texas to avoid disclosing disciplinary actions in other states, as explained by the bill’s filer Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Farmers Branch).