Physician With Record of Medical Malpractice Applies for License in Texas

By Daniel Hawn

Published on August 02, 2005

Texas Medical Board officials have vowed to carefully examine the past of Pamela L. Johnson, 46, to determine whether she is fit for licensure.

Medical boards in three states have sanctioned Johnson for withholding information about her history of malpractice.

In 2001, Johnson was granted a license to practice in New Mexico. Not long afterward, while working at Los Alamos Medical Center, Johnson was responsible for a patient who required induced labor. According to a lawsuit later filed by the patient's husband, the day after Gwyneth Vives was admitted to the hospital, she gave birth with the assistance of a midwife because Johnson was not present to help.

Vives experienced massive bleeding from cuts and lacerations in her uterus. Johnson attempted to fix Vives' wounds but failed twice. Vives later died on December 21, 2001.

The malpractice suit stemming from the incident was settled for an unspecified amount of damages.

New Mexico officials later learned that Johnson withheld information on her licensing application about losing a position with a North Carolina hospital for surgical incompetence. Johnson's license was subsequently suspended.

The medical boards of Michigan and Virginia have also subjected Johnson to disciplinary action for similar instances of withholding information.

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