LITTLE ROCK — A Little Rock doctor was reprimanded and fined $500 by the Arkansas State Medical Board on Thursday for illegally accessing Anne Pressly’s medical records as she lay unconscious in intensive care at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center before she died.
Dr. Jay Douglas Holland, who has a family-practice clinic in the Hillcrest neighborhood, was also ordered to pay $265 to cover the cost of the board’s investigation into the matter.
Pressly, 26, was a news anchor for KATV-TV, Channel 7, when she was found raped and badly beaten in her Hillcrest home the morning of Oct. 20, 2008. She spent five days in intensive care before succumbing to her injuries.
Curtis Lavelle Vance of Marianna was sentenced last month to life in prison for her rape and murder.
The medical board’s action came 5 1 /2 weeks after a federal judge sentenced Holland to a year’s probation, gave him the maximum $5,000 fine and ordered him to serve 50 hours of community service educating other medical professionals about the federalpatient-privacy law.
Holland pleaded guilty in July to misdemeanor charges of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, along with two former hospital employees, who were also given probation and fines.
At Thursday’s hearing before the medical board - which regulates, disciplines and licenses Arkansas physicians - Holland defended his actions. He said he looked at Pressly’s records for 26 seconds only to determine if he could help and didn’t share the information withanyone.
He said he knows special wound-care techniques that can significantly reduce scarring.
“I was looking to see if there were injuries that I could offer my services to,” said Holland, who has been licensed to practice in Arkansas since 1980.
He likened the situation to witnessing a car accident while stopped at a red light, driving through the intersection to see if he could help and then getting a traffic ticket for running the red light.
“I agree I committed an offense. I admit that,” Holland told the board. “I also want to mitigate that by saying my motives were altruistic, just like all of yours are.”
Some board members had strong words for Holland, saying he did not show appropriate remorse for his actions.
Board member Anne Britton of Fayetteville said his action was a gross violation of a patient’s rights.
“I am very alarmed that you have shown no guilt for this,” Britton said. “This to me was an electronic rape/voyeurism.”
Vice Chairman Dr. Joseph Beck of Little Rock and Chairman Dr. Trent Pierce of West Memphis said they doubted Holland’s claims that he acted only out of concern to help Pressly.
“There is no way I believe that his only motivation was to look at that poor lady’s records to see if he could help,” Beck said.
Board member Dr. Omar Atiq of Pine Bluff told Holland that he poorly represented the medical profession andgave patients cause to doubt whether their doctors would respect privacy laws.
“As your peer it was embarrassing to us to see your name in the paper. ... There was some harm done in terms of the patients and their confidence in their doctors,” Atiq said.
Dr. John Hearnsberger of Nashville asked Holland if he has ever accessed another patient’s records for the same reason.
Holland said he had not.
“I understand I should not access information or offer my help to people who have not asked for it,” Holland said.
Holland’s attorney, Ralph Cloar Jr. of Little Rock, said Holland has received dozens of letters of support from patients and other physicians in the state.
While his action was “clearly a violation” of federallaw, it should be considered in the context of his intentions, Cloar said. Furthermore, he said, Holland was one of “several doctors” who accessed Pressly’s records that day, but Holland was the only doctor charged.
“There were only three people charged, and there were 17 that went into these records,” Cloar said. “We’re not here saying we’re not wrong. We’re saying he’s been punished severely.”
Board members voted 8-4 in favor of the reprimand and fine.
Board attorney Bill Trice said the board can take a variety of disciplinary actions, including a reprimand that will permanently remain on a physician’s records, fines, temporarily suspending a medical license or terminating a license to prevent a doctor from practicing in the state.
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 12/04/2009