Medical Justice provides free consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for doctor-patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief), meritless litigation, and a gazillion other issues. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, visit our booking page to schedule a free consultation – or use the tool shared below.

Physicians can be held accountable by professional licensing boards for actions outside of the exam room and surgery suite. For example, if you are pulled over with a DUI, do not be surprised if the Board gets involved. Yes, nothing you did directly impacted patient care. You were presumably not taking care of a patient when the police pulled you over. But many Boards presume that a DUI is a harbinger of a general alcohol abuse problem which could turn into a later patient safety matter. Alcohol abuse may cloud one’s judgment while taking care of a patient. Or the Board may conclude you will show up while on call and have ETOH on your breath.

Danielle Roberts was licensed as a physician in NY. She became involved with the NXIVM cult. She had previously been invited to join a “secret society: called Dominus Obsequious Soroium, or DOS.” Entry to the secret society required being branded on the pelvis with the initials of NXIVM’s founder, Keith Raniere. Dr. Roberts performed at least 17 such brandings, captured on video.

One such “brandee” left the secret society, and filed a complaint to the Board of Medicine.

New York’s Bureau of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) charged Roberts with 47 counts of professional misconduct. In addition to the brandings, she was accused of failing to report the outbreak of an infectious norovirus-like illness at a NXIVM retreat.

Roberts countered that branding was not the practice of medicine and the OPMC had no jurisdiction to discipline on that charge.

The hearing committee disagreed and revoked her license to practice medicine. Roberts appealed and the case went to trial court, which upheld the decision revoking her license.

“Unlike tattooing and body art, branding is not regulated in New York, but courts have nonetheless considered electric cauterization to come under the purview of a medical procedure,” wrote Justice Lisa Fisher. And the hearing committee had substantial evidence to establish a professional connection, including Roberts’s own testimony that she relied on her medical expertise and had been approached by society members to fulfill the role of brander for that reason. “Several of the DOS members who were branded, including the complainant, provided testimony to the effect that they were relieved or comforted knowing that a physician would be performing the branding,” Justice Fisher noted.

The Justice also noted that Dr. Roberts used her medical knowledge to achieve a particular outcome.

“Although petitioner contends that her ritualistic branding of DOS members was for nonmedical reasons and lacked a sufficient nexus with the practice of medicine, it is apparent that petitioner used her medical knowledge and training to create a specific physical condition – a permanent scar – on the enrollees. In doing so, the Bureau’s expert testified that petitioner’s actions in branding DOS members constituted the practice of medicine by ‘operating’ on a physical condition.”

Dr. Roberts provided post-branding care, and society-members were foreclosed from selecting other physicians from such care.

Department of Justice photo of Danielle Robert

Multiple women were branded with a cauterizing tool wielded by a doctor in a secret ritual.

Yellowstone Spoiler Alert: In one episode, ranchers working at the Yellowstone Ranch engaged in group activity, which if revealed, would end in prison terms for all. The ranchers were asked to prove their fealty by first being branded. Once branded with the ranch’s logo, the ranchers pulled off their mischief, with the understanding that all had sealed lips. Given Dr. Roberts’ situation, one wonders if the fellow ranch hands were practicing medicine without a license. Back to the DOS cult, if Dr. Roberts had taken a pass and sent a “branding iron” to another cult member, would they have been convicted of practicing medicine without a license? By the way, the tools used in Yellowstone were different than those used in NVIXM/DOS. Roberts was alleged to have used a cauterizing pen, as opposed to a branding iron.

In 2020, the founder of NXIVM and the inspiration for the branding logo, Keith Raniere, was sentenced to 120 years in prison.

Finally, another physician lost his license over his involvement with NVIXM.

Brandon Porter, a medical doctor, conducted unlicensed human-subjects research on 200 people for NXIVM. During a “fright study”, Porter exposed subjects to disturbing videos, including actual footage of a decapitation. In 2016, Porter was present at a NXIVM retreat (“V-Week”) where 300 to 400 individuals were struck by an unidentified disease; Porter failed to report the outbreak, in violation of his duties as a licensed medical doctor.  Porter was stripped of his medical license in 2020.

The details:

Brandon B. Porter, a former doctor at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, violated 40 state and federal regulations, according to an investigation against him by the New York Department of Health. The department’s investigation into Porter found that the doctor not only conducted unlicensed “human subject research,” but that he failed to obtain proper consent from people or keep records from his supposed studies.

Between 2010 and 2017, Porter allegedly performed unsanctioned neurological research on more than 200 “subjects” to study psychological responses to certain stimuli as part of NXIVM’s studies into Tourette’s syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and “Executive Success Program” for self-betterment, according to the department’s investigation.

In one study, dubbed the “Fright Study,” Porter forced his subjects to watch violent and “horrific” video clips, including footage of four women being dismembered with a machete and a conscious male being forced to eat his own brain matter.

“The Respondent, who knew or should have known that human subjects participating in the Fright Study could have been caused mental pain and suffering, and/or psychological injury while viewing the disturbing and violent actual video and film clips, failed to terminate such study,” the department of health said in its investigation.

Regarding this allegation against Dr. Roberts:

“…she was accused of failing to report the outbreak of an infectious norovirus-like illness at a NXIVM retreat.”

Losing one’s license over that oversight seems unduly harsh.

The take-home point is this. As physicians, our behavior is held to higher standards than the general public. The medical professionals in this cult seemingly avoided prison time. But their careers as physicians seem to be over.

What do you think?

Medical Justice provides free consultations to doctors facing medico-legal obstacles. We have solutions for doctor-patient conflicts, unwarranted demands for refunds, online defamation (patient review mischief), meritless litigation, and a gazillion other issues. If you are navigating a medico-legal obstacle, visit our booking page to schedule a free consultation – or use the tool shared below.

Jeffrey Segal, MD, JD

Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Dr. Jeffrey Segal, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Medical Justice, is a board-certified neurosurgeon. Dr. Segal is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons; the American College of Legal Medicine; and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is also a member of the North American Spine Society. In the process of conceiving, funding, developing, and growing Medical Justice, Dr. Segal has established himself as one of the country’s leading authorities on medical malpractice issues, counterclaims, and internet-based assaults on reputation.

Dr. Segal was a practicing neurosurgeon for approximately ten years, during which time he also played an active role as a participant on various state-sanctioned medical review panels designed to decrease the incidence of meritless medical malpractice cases.

Dr. Segal holds a M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine, where he also completed a neurosurgical residency. Dr. Segal served as a Spinal Surgery Fellow at The University of South Florida Medical School. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as the AOA Medical Honor Society. Dr. Segal received his B.A. from the University of Texas and graduated with a J.D. from Concord Law School with highest honors.

In 2000, he co-founded and served as CEO of DarPharma, Inc, a biotechnology company in Chapel Hill, NC, focused on the discovery and development of first-of-class pharmaceuticals for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Segal is also a partner at Byrd Adatto, a national business and health care law firm. Byrd Adatto was selected as a Best Law Firm in the 2023 edition of the “Best Law Firms” list by U.S. News – Best Lawyers. With over 50 combined years of experience in serving doctors, dentists, and other providers, Byrd Adatto has a national pedigree to address most legal issues that arise in the business and practice of medicine.