November 1, 2011
Karl G. Perry (USB 2570)
Assistant Attorney General
Mark L. Shurtleff (USB 4666)
Utah Attorney General
Commercial Enforcement Division
160 East 300 South, 5th Floor
P.O. Box 140872
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-0872
Attorneys for Division of Occupational
& Professional Licensing
To Messrs. Perry and Shurtleff:
I would like to thank the Utah Board
of Medicine for the opportunity to put into words
what I have learned over the past year
about myself, how inaccurate reporting on professional
applications affected my license and
my medical practice.
As everyone now knows, twenty years
ago, while serving in the military, I was convicted
of a felony. The actions that led to
the felony conviction caused me a profound sense of shame
that I still carry with me today. My
behavior at the time was uncharacteristic of anything I had
done before, or since. I embarrassed
my family, my country and myself.
When I was discharged from Ft.
Leavenworth Military barracks in 1992, I did everything
possible to put the past behind me. I
did not want my terrible mistake to define who I was. In
retrospect, I understand that I was in
denial of what I had done. I rarely discussed my criminal
actions with my family and had chosen
to tell only a few very close friends. I never reviewed
my discharge papers. I could not face
doing so. My denial was so all encompassing that it
never even occurred to me to obtain
another set of discharge papers after I lost the originals.
I also never tried to have my record
expunged. When I was asked to answer questions about
my past, I did everything possible to
continue to minimalize what I had done. I did so not to
defraud anyone, but because I did not
want to confront my own past. It was and remains terribly
painful. But it is my past, not my
present.
Each less than perfect act that I have
ever done has been laid bare before the public. My
patients have questioned me
extensively about my past. I answer them as openly and honestly
as I can. I know now that I must not
flinch away from the past. I have no secrets to withhold.
For the first time, a patient under my
care suffered a medical complication and I have had to live
with that knowledge and these
subsequent repercussions.
Despite the newspaper reports,
internet stories and local news, I still have family, friends,
patients and other doctors who support
me. Although my practice is a shadow of what it once
was, every week there are patients
that make the decision to trust me again. I feel blessed and
humbled by their trust in me. Their
faith in me must be repaid by giving them the best and most
ethical treatment that I can. I pledge
that to them.
Finally what I have lost
professionally is profound based on the unfortunate events of the
last year and the Utah DOPL sanctions:
1 A summary suspension of my Maryland
medical license;
2 The surrender of my Wyoming license
since I did not have the financial means to
defend myself in multiple legal
venues;
3 Revocation of my American Board of
Family Medicine certification, with
subsequent job position termination
due to revocation of board certification;
4 Loss of my hospital privileges at
Alta View l and St. Mark’s hospitals in Utah;
5 Termination of participation in
several major insurance panels, with subsequent
loss of longstanding patients;
6 A malpractice claim and termination
of insurance coverage;
7 An agreement with DOPL to cease
performing termination procedures; and,
8 A
public reprimand by DOPL, a $10,000 fine and this essay.
Although I am essentially unemployable
in Salt Lake City and my income is
approximately sixty percent of what it
once was and I am struggling to keep my home and
provide for my family; the most
difficult obstacles I face are those that involve rebuilding the
trust of my family, patients and
colleagues.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Nicola Riley, MD
SMP Family Medicine & Homecare, PC
