Medical board puts doctor on probation after patient’s death in Newport Beach

Health-care officials put an Orange County anesthesiologist on probation this month after allegations that talking on his cellphone distracted him from tending to a patient who died after dental implant surgery in Newport Beach.

According to a complaint by the Medical Board of California, Dr. Barry Friedberg was slow to react or call 911 when a 57-year-old patient’s heart stopped while she was under general anesthesia at the Smile Implant Center in 2010.

Friedberg had administered doses of the anesthetics propofol and ketamine, according to the complaint. As part of what the complaint called a series of medical blunders, Friedberg failed to “conduct an appropriate resuscitation” on the patient and then interfered when paramedics arrived, the complaint states.

Doctors at Hoag Hospital declared the patient brain-dead four days later, according to the medical board.

Friedberg agreed to accept the probation as part of a settlement with the board, but he defended himself in an interview Thursday with the Daily Pilot.

“It is not below the standard of care to take a cellphone call during surgery,” he wrote in an email, adding that the settlement didn’t include “any discussion of the medical facts.”

Friedberg said he never left the patient’s side during the procedure and constantly watched her breathing. He also claimed that paramedics misconstrued his attempts to help as interference.

In another email, Friedberg touted his reputation for patient safety, which he said landed him an offer to help defend Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2011, in connection with the pop star’s death from an overdose of propofol. Friedberg said he turned down the offer.

As part of the probation, other licensed medical professionals will monitor Friedberg’s work for three years, and he is barred from supervising any physician assistants during that time.

The settlement also requires that he take classes including ethics and record-keeping.

According to the complaint, Friedberg gave paramedics different anesthesia records than the ones on file at the Smile Implant Center. That led the medical board to accuse him of “dishonest acts” in addition to negligence and incompetence.

Friedberg now runs a nonprofit called the Goldilocks Anesthesia Foundation, which says its purpose is to educate “doctors and the general public on the dangers of anesthesia over-medication and under-medication.”

Smile Implant Center has closed.