A retired 78-year-old South Dakota surgeon said he plans to surrender his medical license rather than attend a revocation hearing to strip him of his license following an incident with another physician nearly 20 years ago, according to the Argus Leader.
The South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners scheduled a hearing Oct. 27 to revoke the medical license of Lars Aanning, MD, following accusations he displayed "moral turpitude" for lying on behalf of a colleague during a medical malpractice lawsuit roughly 20 years ago. Dr. Aanning admitted last year he was coached by his fellow physician's lawyers on what to say and how to answer certain questions, according to the report.
The medical board alleged Dr. Aanning violated the public's trust by failing to tell the truth during the incident. The board cannot charge him with perjury because the statute of limitations has passed.
However, Dr. Aanning told the Argus Leader it is common practice for physicians to defend and protect their colleagues when a medical error occurs. He claimed the board seeks to strip him of his license to "curtail [his] investigative activities" to expose "shoddy medicine," the report states.
"Almost 10 years ago, I reported [Allen Sossan, MD] to the SDBMOE for harming — even killing — patients, and the SDBMOE never lifted a finger to prevent him from inflicting more harm on South Dakotans," Dr. Aanning wrote in a letter to the medical board obtained by the Argus Leader. "My complaint does not appear to have even been investigated by the SDBMOE. The license of this doctor was never restricted or suspended and when his license finally elapsed, nothing further was done to protect patients in other states."
A representative for the SDBMOE told the Argus Leader via email medical board officials "will have to accept the surrender of Dr. Aanning's license," the report states.