Patient advocates have long pushed the Medical Board of California to share more information about potentially dangerous doctors.
Investigations average three years to complete, and during that time the majority of doctors are allowed to continue practicing, with no indication of complaints or investigations underway on the board’s website.
Chalene Johnson said that’s what happened to her in the summer of 2021, when she logged on to the medical board website to look up her plastic surgeon before her operation.
“I checked to make sure he’s licensed, is he in good standing,” Johnson said.
Right now there is no way for the public to know that a doctor is currently being investigated, and sometimes for very serious matters.
TJ Watkins, Medical Board of California member
She found a clean record for Dr. Arian Mowlavi in Laguna Beach. She had surgery with him for a C-section revision but said she was unhappy with the results. Three weeks after her surgery, she learned an accusation by the medical board had posted on Mowlavi’s profile, related to the death of one of his patients three years earlier. Johnson said she was stunned.
“If we’re going to be placing our lives in the hands of a doctor, we should know their history,” said Johnson.
Medical board member TJ Watkins is concerned about the lack of transparency for patients.
“Right now there is no way for the public to know that a doctor is currently being investigated,” Watkins explained, “and sometimes for very serious matters.”
During the board’s quarterly meeting on Feb. 14, Watkins wants members to vote on preparing a legislative packet with the goal of providing public notice on the medical board’s website when a doctor is being investigated. The change would have to be approved by the state legislature.
He says something similar is already being done by another board managed by the Department of Consumer Affairs, which also regulates the medical board.
“The contractor’s licensing board has a feature that shows you very clearly that these are the contractors that are being investigated right now,” Watkins said. “So the contractors are held to a higher standard than doctors taking a scalpel to your heart. And that’s an unacceptable standard.”
The medical board has repeatedly told NBC4 it cannot address or even confirm active investigations because they are confidential by law, which is why Watkins says he wants the board to vote on proposing legislative change.
Meanwhile, last year bankruptcy documents showed Mowlavi’s insurance company paid $6 million to more than 30 patients, including Johnson.
He was also arraigned on criminal charges by the Orange County DA’s office. He has pleaded not guilty. By court order as a condition of his release without bail, he is prohibited from performing major surgeries with general anesthesia until the trial concludes.
Right now on the medical board website, his license shows “renewed and current,” but there are also references to an additional accusation filed, probation with suspension and the court order limiting his practice of medicine.
Mowlavi is also scheduled to appear before an administrative law judge in October.
“I don’t know what legislators need to get involved, but the laws have to change because we have to protect patients.” said Johnson.
Mowlavi is scheduled for another pre-trial hearing next month. NBC4 reached out to his attorney and the public defenders office for comment, but did not hear back.
The quarterly medical board meeting is in Fresno Feb. 13 and 14. The board provides a link for the public to watch online.
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