BY JIM HALL
An Orange County doctor has been reprimanded by the Virginia Board of Medicine for failing to properly diagnose and treat a patient with heart problems.
The medical board said that Dr. Amy Cooley "failed to appreciate" that her patient's symptoms were "risk factors for an acute cardiac event." Immediately after the man left Cooley's office, he was in a single-car auto accident and died.
The medical board disciplined Cooley at a hearing in Richmond Jan. 7. The board ordered her to take 12 hours of continuing education classes in emergency and urgent care.
Cooley this week declined to comment about the board's actions. She works at Orange Family Physicians on James Madison Highway in Orange.
The disciplinary action stems from a visit by one of Cooley's patients on Feb. 11, 2009.
According to board documents, the 52-year-old man, identified in the board's order as "Patient A," came to Cooley after having heartburn for three weeks. He described his pain as "pressure-like," according to Cooley's office note.
The man had a history of high blood pressure, used tobacco and alcohol and did not take his medicine regularly. His blood pressure in her office was 200/100.
According to the board's findings, Cooley failed to take and record a complete medical history of the man, did not repeat the blood-pressure test and did not do an electrocardiogram or perform lab tests to rule out heart problems as the cause of his distress.
Cooley told the medical board that she counseled the man about his diet. She prescribed a blood-pressure medicine and one for gastroesophageal reflux. She also told the man to return for a follow-up visit in two weeks.
"Immediately after leaving Dr. Cooley's office, Patient A was involved in a fatal single-car motor vehicle accident," according to the board's order.
The man's death certificate, dated March 5, 2009, listed blunt head trauma as the cause of his death. The death certificate also said that his heart condition was a "significant condition" contributing to his death. No postmortem exam was done.
Cooley graduated from the West Virginia University School of Medicine, according to her profile on the Board of Medicine's Web site.
She did her internship, residency and fellowship work in family medicine at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. She also was an instructor at the Charlottesville school in 2006-07. She obtained her medical license in 2006.
Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com