The Medical Quality Assurance Commission in Washington state suspended the license of Johnny Delashaw, MD, the former chairman of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle, because of an "immediate threat to the public health and safety."
According to The Seattle Times, the committee suspended Dr. Delashaw's license May 5, and he as 20 days to respond and request a hearing.
Dr. Delashaw resigned from his post at SNI in March after a Seattle Times report called his patient care practices into question and said the physician pushed for high patient volume, among other findings.
Commission officials suspended the license because of evidence showing Dr. Delashaw would yell, swear and make threatening movements to fellow staff members to intimidate them. This in turn put patients at risk, according to the commission.
Dr. Delashaw disagrees with the commission's decision to suspend his license, his attorney told the Seattle Times. "It is unfortunate that the commission took this one-sided action without giving Dr. Delashaw any opportunity to present the opposing evidence," the attorney told The Seattle Times. "The totality of the evidence will show that the statutory standard for this type of summary action has not been met, and will support his well-deserved reputation as a world-class neurosurgeon."