span>Newberry, SC (WLTX) - We're learning about serious accusations against Dr. Steven Maztinger, a former chief surgeon at Newberry County Memorial Hospital.
The State Department of Labor and Licensing and Regulation says Dr. Matzinger used cocaine outside of work, and once walked out on a patient for half an hour during surgery.
span style="font-size: 13px;">span>Dr. Matzinger faced a hearing earlier this year before the State Board of Medical Examiners, and the report that came out of it is online. Related Link: Dr. Steven Matzinger ReportBut no one in the public seemed to know about it until recently after former patient Maria McMurtury came across it while looking into Matzinger. "He removed my gall bladder and my son's gall bladder," said McMurtury.She says the surgeries were done by Matzinger at Newberry County Memorial Hospital. She'd hoped to find out possible reasons why her son still has digestive problems and what she found has her deeply troubled. "I think the general public needs to know, especially since this doctor is still practicing."A department of Labor Licensing and Regulation report sites a particular incident happening in February of 2006. It says Matzinger left an operating room in Newberry during surgery after there was a missing item needed for the procedure. It says he went to his office and did not return for 30 minutes."To leave a patient on the operating table for half an hour, that's unheard of. I really hope that whoever this patient was, now that this is coming public, they can know to ask questions," said McMurtury.The report also says Matzinger admitted to using cocaine twice a week at either his house or a friends, over a period of 12 months.The South Carolina State Board of Medical examiners fined Matzinger $5,000, ordered him to enroll in a disruptive physicians course, and for the next five years he will have to be a part of a South Carolina Recovering Professionals Program."For me, a doctor who admits to using cocaine, to me that's not enough," said McMurtury.McMurtury would like to see Matzinger do what he did in Pennsylvania. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State's website, the doctor has withdrawn his license to practice medicine in the state. /span>
