Wisconsin DOC Under Fire for Hiring Censured Doctors
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC) was on the hot seat after an investigation published in the New York Times on July 2, 2024, revealed that nearly a third of physicians hired by the prison system over the past decade had faced censure before their employment for medical errors or ethical breaches.
Dr. Joan Hannula, for example, surrendered her medical license in California and pleaded guilty to drug possession and prescription forgery, yet she was hired anyway by the DOC. It’s not an uncommon career move for physicians after facing disciplinary actions; as the vacancy rate for prison doctors climbed from 13% in early 2016 to 37% by October 2023, the DOC couldn’t afford to be choosy. Spokeswoman Beth Hardtke said that doctors need only hold an unrestricted state medical license and complete any required rehabilitation programming.
But former state Medical Examining Board Chair Dr. Sheldon Wasserman reviewed the DOC hires and concluded, “A lot of these people are unemployable.” Among them was Dr. Rey Palop, who had been convicted of obtaining controlled substances by fraud; and Dr. Kevin Krembs, who’d been investigated by the DEA for illegally prescribing controlled substances and deemed “unfit to practice” by Indiana’s medical board.
One of Hannula’s patients, state prisoner Darnell Price, watched a lump on his thigh grow abnormally large as she refused to order a biopsy. When Price eventually got a new doctor, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and granted compassionate release. With the aid of Waunakee attorney Jeff Scott Olson, he filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 in federal court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The parties announced they’d reached a settlement on September 4, 2024; PLN has requested copies of the documents and will update details as they are available. See: Price v. Hannula, USDC (W.D. Wisc.), Case No. 3:24-cv-00009.
Additional source: New York Times
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