Neurosurgeon Faces Charges of Mistreating 5 Patients : Accusations: Doctor in Orange is accused of ‘gross negligence’ and ‘incompetence’ by state Medical Board.

An Orange neurosurgeon faces disciplinary action before the Medical Board of California for allegedly mistreating five patients during the 1980s.

The board, which licenses and disciplines doctors, has accused Dr. Donald R. Defeo, 53, of “gross negligence” and “incompetence” in his handling of the patients, including a woman who was left quadriplegic nine years ago as the result of a surgical error.

In its complaint, filed Aug. 12, the board alleges that Defeo improperly removed scar tissue surrounding a 42-year-old woman’s spinal cord during surgery in October, 1983.

Defeo “continued dissecting tissue when he was uncertain as to whether the tissue was scar or the (back) columns of the spinal cord,” the complaint reads.

The board also states that the doctor continued operating on the woman even though an operating room sensory machine indicated neurological damage.

Defeo “continued to operate because he believed that the machine was experiencing technical difficulties, as opposed to the patient sustaining a spinal cord injury,” the board’s complaint states.

Defeo and his attorney did not return telephone calls to their offices Wednesday. The doctor has not yet responded to the board’s complaint but has until Sept. 11 to do so.

Other cases detailed in the 14-page complaint, which was filed by the state attorney general’s office on behalf of the Medical Board, include:

* A February, 1985, case in which Defeo reportedly “admitted” operating on the wrong disk in a man’s back--an error that required the patient to undergo a second back surgery in order to have a herniated disk removed.

* A March, 1985, case in which the doctor allegedly failed to properly treat a male patient’s complaints of leaking fluid from a wound shortly after he performed surgery on the man. The man developed spinal meningitis that “would likely have been preventable” if he had been diagnosed correctly, the complaint stated.

* A November, 1985, case in which a woman who had undergone spinal surgery performed by Defeo experienced severe complications after she was discharged from the hospital. The complaint states that Defeo was “unresponsive” to the woman’s condition and she was forced to go to her family doctor, who hospitalized her immediately.

The woman underwent extensive physical therapy and subsequent surgeries which the board contends could have been avoided.

* A December, 1985, case in which the doctor is charged with “failing to diagnose and appropriately treat” a cerebral spinal fluid leak in a man he had operated on several months earlier. The man developed spinal meningitis as a result. The board also contends that Defeo made errors during the man’s surgery.

Although the cases all occurred in the 1980s, the Medical Board was not made aware of them until 1990, as a result of subsequent lawsuits, said Janie Cordray, information officer for the Medical Board.

“The board is notified of all cases where a malpractice suit results in a settlement or judgment of $30,000 or more,” said Cordray, who added that such cases typically remain in litigation for several years.

Defeo received his license in 1968. He was formerly on staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange. He resigned from the hospital in the late 1980s, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Defeo, whose physician and surgeon’s license is still in effect, practices neurology in Orange.

Defeo faces a hearing on the charges. An administrative law judge will then decide whether the doctor’s license should be revoked or restricted.