U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General Office of Investigations Washington, DC 20420 (202) 565-7702
Friday, January 22, 1999
VA Surgeon Sentenced for Manslaughter
Richard J. Griffin, Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), announced today that Dr. Charles Douglas Wood, Muskogee, OK, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, to 5 months' imprisonment, 36 months' probation, and a $25,000 fine. Griffin stated that this prosecution was the result of a joint investigation by his Central Field Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Wood, former Chief of Surgical Service, VA Medical Center, Muskogee, was previously found guilty in a jury trial of involuntary manslaughter for administering a lethal dose of potassium chloride to a veteran patient. During his trial, Wood testified that he opted for a rare procedure that involved infusing potassium at a rate four times faster than usual. Two nurses testified they tried to stop Wood from performing this procedure and that, during his testimony, Wood misrepresented the amount of potassium and the time that elapsed in the injection. Wood had operated on the patient approximately 1 week before to surgically repair a perforated peptic ulcer. Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Horn, Muskogee, prosecuted this case.