U. says suspended doctor couldn't perform duties

In its response to a lawsuit, the University said the doctor was abusing drugs. A physician claiming that the University Health System illegally suspended him was allegedly abusing prescription medication and unable to function as a doctor, according to court documents filed by the University last week. Steven Burke, 44, an internal medicine physician from Chester County, filed suit January 16 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. The suit accuses Health System officials of defamation and breach of contract for suspending Burke on October 22, 1997. Other defendants in the case include his former partner, Isaac Tam; his former boss, Paul Rogers; and Chester County Hospital, which suspended Burke after Tam told officials there that Burke was unfit to practice medicine. On February 20, Health System officials told Burke, who suffers from depression, that they were terminating his employment with Clinical Care Associates, the primary-care division of the Health System. Last Thursday, the Health System filed a response and countersuit filled with accusations that are unusually harsh for court documents. Most significantly, the University accuses Burke of using Tam's name and identification number to prescribe Xanax, an anti-depression medication. The Health System's countersuit also claims that Burke breached his contract when he and his attorneys gave "confidential information about CCA" to The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Daily Pennsylvanian. Yesterday, Burke's attorney Tom Monteverde denied all of the University's accusations. The Health System's court documents rely heavily on Tam's deposition, in which he claims that Burke's wife told him that Burke was taking "heavy doses of psychiatric drugs? had talked about suicide? [and] had an affair with another woman," in addition to acting, in general, very strangely. According to Tam, Denise Burke allegedly denied she took the medication prescribed in her name. In her own deposition, Denise Burke denied making any of those statements. Monteverde confirmed yesterday that Burke used Tam's prescription number, but stressed that he did it with Tam's permission. Soon after Tam's conversation with Denise Burke, Tam contacted CCA officials and they decided to suspend Burke for medical reasons. In an interview with the the DP last month, Tam defended his actions and maintained that Burke is unable to practice medicine until "he gets appropriate help." "When I see a physician has deteriorated to a point where he's endangering patients' well-being, I have no option but to bring it to the attention of the appropriate medical personnel," Tam said. Tam declined further comment last night. But Monteverde accused Tam of lying about what Denise Burke told him because "he knew that Dr. Burke was getting ready to either leave [CCA] or practice separate from Dr. Tam." CCA officials decided to fire Burke, Monteverde said, because of the publicity surrounding the case -- which included a front-page article in the Inquirer. "[The publicity] made some people nervous about other doctors doing this," he said. "They know they had no right to fire him. It was more important to use him as an example of their power." Health System officials were unavailable for comment yesterday. The allegations offer a glimpse into the vast and complicated array of hospitals, doctors and administrators that make up the Penn Health System. The system, with annual revenue near $2 billion, comprises four hospitals with a total of 18,000 employees. Another six hospitals are affiliated with the system. CCA is made up of about 85 medical practices and 265 doctors. Burke and Tam had been partners for nearly 15 years before they joined CCA in 1994. CCA promised to expand the partners' West Chester, Pa., office facilities, hire a third doctor for them and increase their salaries, in exchange for becoming employees of the Health System, according to Burke's original complaint. But Burke's suit says CCA's promises never materialized and his workload increased by more than 30 percent. Burke also claims that Tam did not pull his share of the workload. According to the Health System's response, however, while Tam did have to take significant time off to care for a severely ill child, Burke frequently locked himself in his office to "play the stock market" while his patients waited for him to attend to them. Before his termination, Burke had offered to return to work if CCA gave him a solo practice, which they had already promised him they would do, he claims. But CCA refused to abide by his terms and said in their response that their employment agreement specifically bars oral agreements.

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