N.J. Anesthesiologist Accused of Performing Spine Surgery

Richard Kaul, MD, has performed complex spine procedures across New Jersey. Problem is, he's a board-certified anesthesiologist with no formal spine surgery training.

Dr. Kaul on Wednesday voluntarily agreed to stop performing spine procedures, as well as all procedures requiring conscious sedation, regional anesthesia or general anesthesia, until he obtains hospital or other appropriate privileges. The restrictions will remain in effect until the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners holds a hearing to consider additional action on his medical license based on a complaint filed in April by New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa.

"If Dr. Kaul had not agreed to these restrictions, we were prepared to ask the board to take (immediate) action against his license," says Mr. Chiesa.

In the attorney general's complaint, the 47-year-old Dr. Kaul is accused of "flagrant disregard of his own lack of training and expertise" and putting the public in "clear and imminent danger" by performing spine surgeries at New Jersey Spine and Rehabilitation Center in Pompton Lakes, N.J., and several other facilities in the state.

Dr. Kaul completed an anesthesiology residency at Albert-Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx in 1995, during which he did not receive training to perform spine surgery, according to the complaint. He claims to have taken numerous courses about spine surgery - many of the classes were accredited for continuing medical education credits and some involved hands-on training with cadavers - and completed a 2-week fellowship in minimally invasive spine surgery in Seoul, South Korea. The complaint notes, however, that CME classes and a fellowship overseas fall short of the generally accepted standard of medical practice for performing spine surgery in the U.S.: completing either an orthopedic surgery or neurosurgery residency.

According to the complaint, NJSR's website contains numerous misleading statements regarding Dr. Kaul's education, training and credentials to perform spine surgery, including claims that he's a "board-certified minimally invasive spine specialist" and a "pioneer in minimally invasive and percutaneous spinal surgery."

A spokesman for Dr. Kaul and his attorney declined to comment on the allegations.

This isn't the first time Dr. Kaul has run afoul of the board of medical examiners. In 2003, the board suspended his medical license for 6 months, followed by 18 months of probation, after Dr. Kaul did not reveal on various credentialing applications that he was convicted of manslaughter charges in England following the death of a dental surgery patient who went into cardiac arrest while under his care as an anesthesiologist.

Daniel Cook