Doc Who Blamed COVID Vax for Patient’s Death Could Face Discipline

A California physician accused of gross negligence for attributing a stroke patient’s death to the COVID vaccine without any evidence, among other allegations, faces potential disciplinary action by his state’s medical board.

The complaint against Tam Ky Nguyen, MD, filed last month by the Medical Board of California, includes other accounts of alleged gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, and failure to maintain adequate and accurate records. As a result, Nguyen could face suspension of his medical license, probation, or license revocation. Nguyen has held a medical license since 1996.

According to the complaint, the case was initiated in September of 2021 after Fountain Valley Regional Hospital submitted a report to the medical board alleging that Nguyen “failed to submit to a psychiatric evaluation,” didn’t comply with a co-admitting requirement, and sent “concerning communications about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines” to the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital Medical Executive Committee.

The committee suspended Nguyen’s clinical privileges pending submission of a psychiatric evaluation. The medical board also obtained hospital and patient medical records as part of an investigation, in addition to witness accounts from those who worked with Nguyen.

The complaint detailed three patient cases representing “extreme departures from the standard of care,” according to the board.

One case involved a 58-year-old woman with a history of hypertension, diabetes, and hypothyroidism who died after a stroke in May 2021. According to the complaint, Nguyen indicated in the patient’s records that the stroke was an adverse reaction to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. He listed the cause of death as respiratory failure and multiple organ failure due to the vaccine “without any evidence or objective information,” the complaint said.

Another case involved a 67-year-old woman admitted in February 2021 for COVID pneumonia and again for COVID in July 2021. During the July visit, Nguyen described her diagnosis as a possible adverse reaction to the Pfizer vaccine she had received 2 months earlier. He prescribed her ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, the latter of which had been briefly authorized as a COVID-19 treatment in 2020, but not at the time of her admission.

An infectious disease physician recommended the patient stop taking hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. Nguyen documented that he was actually prescribing hydroxychloroquine for her rheumatoid arthritis, though without consulting rheumatology and at a dose twice as high as the usual maximum for that indication. Nguyen advised the patient, who was considered high-risk, to avoid a COVID-19 booster.

The third patient was a 66-year-old man admitted to the hospital in July 2021 for pneumonitis, hemoptysis, and flu-like weakness; the patient had a history of smoking, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. Nguyen described the patient’s condition as a “possible adverse autoimmune reaction to COVID vaccine” and advised the patient to “avoid further COVID vaccine.” The patient also saw pulmonology clinicians, whose documentation did not mention the COVID-19 vaccine.

UCI Health, which acquired a hospital network including Fountain Valley Regional Hospital this year, wrote in an email to MedPage Today, that “Dr. Tam Ky Nguyen is not and was not an employee of UCI Health.”

“As a community physician in private practice, Dr. Nguyen does not have privileges to practice or see patients at UCI Health–Fountain Valley,” the email continued. “UCI Health has no comment on the allegations you described, as they occurred before the March 27, 2024 acquisition.”

MedPage Today could not reach Nguyen by phone. He appears to currently work out of his Garden Grove-based internal medicine practice, CT Clinic. When reached by phone, a responder said Nguyen was not in because the clinic is closed on Thursdays.

One online reviewer wrote on the clinic’s Google Maps profile a year ago, “I have Covid Positive. Conventional Dr prescribed Paxlovid but my brother introduced me to Dr Tam. He then prescribed me list of Covid medication and supplements for me.”

Nguyen’s case will go before an administrative law judge for a hearing to determine the disciplinary action. Until then, according to Nguyen’s licensing details on California’s Department of Consumer Affairs site, “Practice is permitted unless otherwise specified.”

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