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Johnson v. Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners3/19/2003
E.H. ("E.H.") had chronic skin problems. A friend of E.H.'s searched the internet for a physician to treat her skin condition, and found a business advertisement by Petitioner/Appellee James E. Johnson, M.D. ("Johnson"), a physician in Tennessee. E. H. saw Johnson for treatment of her skin condition.
After examining E.H., Johnson diagnosed her as having candidiasis, an infestation or overgrowth of yeast in her bloodstream and body. He initially prescribed garlic treatment to cure E.H.'s candidiasis. E. H., however, sought a "faster" remedy. Johnson then recommended intravenous hydrogen peroxide treatments as well as ozone therapy. E.H. declined the ozone therapy but agreed to the hydrogen peroxide treatments.
The hydrogen peroxide treatment was a hydrogen peroxide and saline solution administered intravenously into a vein in the arm, with each treatment taking approximately four hours. Johnson recommended thirteen such treatments. After E.H. had received approximately two intravenous hydrogen peroxide treatments, Johnson installed a PICC line in her arm to facilitate the subsequent intravenous treatments. Just prior to receiving her fourth or fifth treatment, E. H. suffered pain in her head and dizziness. Johnson diagnosed this as a "mini-stroke." As treatment, Johnson administered large doses of vitamin C through intramuscular injections into E.H.'s buttocks. When E.H. later developed upper respiratory problems, Johnson gave her additional vitamin C injections. In total, E.H. received seven hydrogen peroxide treatments and three vitamin C treatments, for which she paid Johnson $4,500.
Later, E.H. began complaining of pain in her buttocks and hip area where the vitamin C was injected, indicating an infection in that area. Johnson told her that antibiotics were not compatible with the hydrogen peroxide therapy. Instead he prescribed charcoal poultice compresses, which he made by mixing charcoal and water in a coffee can. Johnson then soaked paper towels in the charcoal solution and affixed them to E.H.'s buttock with paper tape.
Not surprisingly, the pain in E.H.'s hip area worsened. Johnson finally referred her to a surgeon. The surgeon recommended that E.H. begin taking antibiotics and have an ultrasound test on her hip to determine the source of the pain. At the same time, the PICC line in E.H.'s arm for the hydrogen peroxide treatments caused her arm to become red and ache. E.H. then went to see her former physician, Dr. Sylvia Shoffner ("Dr. Shoffner"). Dr. Shoffner removed the PICC line and performed an ultrasound test on E.H.'s hip. The ultrasound revealed that E.H. had a baseball-sized abscess in her hip. E.H. was immediately hospitalized and the abscess was surgically removed.
On April 24, 2000, E.H. contacted the Respondent/Appellant, the Tennessee Department of Health ("TDOH") to file a complaint regarding Johnson. Following an investigation, TDOH filed a Notice of Charges against Johnson and requested that the Respondent/Appellant Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners ("Board") temporarily suspend Johnson's medical license. The Board issued an Order of Summary Suspension, in which it found that in October 1999, E.H. began seeing Johnson. The Order recited that Johnson diagnosed her as having polysystemic candidiasis; that Johnson told her that he could cure the illness using intravenous hydrogen peroxide treatments; that Johnson injected high doses of vitamin C into inappropriate injection sites that resulted in a large abscess that had to be surgically removed; that Johnson accepted barter payments from E.H.; and that Johnson advertised hydrogen peroxide therapy and ozone treatments on his internet web site. The Order of Summary Susp
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