‘Threat to the public welfare’
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Dr. Guoxin Wu
Months after an administrative investigation was sparked into allegations of a Beaumont doctor inappropriately touching underage girls under the influence of anesthesia, local criminal investigating agencies have no evidence of the alleged crime being reported to law enforcement personnel. According to the medical review board penning the report sanctioning the doctor to temporarily stop treating female patients, the accusations amount to eight separate reports from hospital staff over a span of eight years.
Dr. Guoxin Wu, according to Texas Medical Board (TMB) records, has been licensed to practice in Texas since 2009, and remains licensed through November 2022. However, since 2013, Baptist Hospital in Beaumont reports that staff has noted multiple instances of the doctor allegedly inappropriately touching underage female patients. Due to what a disciplinary panel of TMB called “a continuing threat to the public welfare,” Wu’s license to practice was restricted Aug. 30, 2021, to disallow the doctor from treating female patients.
Contained in the TMB’s “Order of Temporary Restriction” dated Aug. 30, Wu is documented as a physician engaged in the practice of non-board-certified anesthesiology. As of the date of the order, Wu had resigned his privileges to work at Baptist Hospital amid an investigation by the hospital’s administration but still held privilege at CHRISTUS St. Elizabeth Hospital and Riceland Surgical Hospital.
Recited in the board’s “Findings of Fact,” Baptist Beaumont Hospital was most recently alerted to actions that made a nurse “uncomfortable” during a procedure she attended with Dr. Wu on April 22. According to the filing, the nurse stated that “she saw Wu’s hands under female patients’ blankets on three different occasions,” two times occurring at least six months prior to her outcry.
“Nurse was concerned that Wu was inappropriately touching patients,” the report revealed. “All the known incidents involved female minors undergoing endoscopy procedures.”
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Baptist administration followed up the following day, April 23, requesting Wu to “voluntarily remove himself from all anesthesia schedules at Baptist until further notice,” in order for Baptist to complete a review of the allegations. Wu obliged, according to a letter dated April 26, and was scheduled to meet with members of the Quality Improvement Committee on April 28 to discuss the allegations.
The April inquiry elicited a response from Wu that maintained what the nurse saw was not inappropriate touching, as suspected, instead it was him “reaching under the blanket to clean up patient stool following the procedure.”
Despite his rebuttal, the Baptist committee was steadfast, asking Wu to completely resign his connection to the hospital on May 4, “due to a trend of allegations that cannot be ignored.”
May 12, Wu wdonatas again invited to plead his side before a committee of medical professionals. Instead, he relinquished his privileges from the hospital amid investigation.
Already several weeks into the internal investigation, the Beaumont Police Department reports, no complaint was made with the local authorities. According to the TMB, no report was made to the medical licensing board either, although required. A required report was made May 18 to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), an agency tracking records of actions taken by authorized organizations regarding health care practitioners, entities, providers and suppliers who do not meet professional standards.
In the NPDB report, Baptist officials explained that Wu resigned under investigation for “complaints by nursing staff for placing his hands under patient covers/blankets during administration of anesthesia.”
A summary of detailed findings by Baptist outlines eight similar allegations between 2013 and 2021, all cases involving Wu allegedly “fondling female minors during endoscopy procedures and took place in a darkened room where the only attendees during the procedures are the proceduralist, the anesthesiologist (Wu) and two hospital staff members.”
Previous disciplinary measures taken by Baptist include a March 2018 requirement that Wu complete a continuing education medical course called “Boundaries for Physicians: The Code of Medical Ethics.” Additionally, Wu vowed to “change the pattern of practice that resulted in the original complaints by Baptist staff.”
“Despite corrective measures,” the TMB wrote in its Findings of Fact restraining the doctor’s practice, “the behavior repeated itself” and culminated in the complaint made by the nurse in 2021.
In the board’s “Conclusions of Law,” the group documented the panel’s belief that Wu continuing to practice medicine unchecked “would constitute a continuing threat to the public welfare.”
TMB spokesperson Jarrett Schneider relayed that the board is precluded from additional comment as the matter is still “pending.”
“Complaint and/or investigatory information is considered confidential under state statute and not releasable,” Schneider conveyed. “The temporary restrictions remain in place until it is superseded by a future Board order.”
“Baptist takes seriously its responsibility to address all allegations regarding patient care,” Baptist Hospital liaison Stephanie Harris stated on behalf of the hospital. “When these allegations were raised, Dr. Wu voluntarily resigned his privileges at Baptist Beaumont Hospi- tal while under investigation. The Texas Medical Board findings accurately reflect our actions and we fully support the steps the board has taken to protect our patients.”
Editor's note: Dr. Guoxin Wu is affiliated with Southeast Texas Anesthesia, which is located at 3420 Fannin St. in Beaumont. Dr. Wu is not affiliated – in any way – with Anesthesia Associates, according to President Dr. Ray Callas. Anesthesia Associates is one of the oldest, independent anesthesia groups in Texas.