TAMPA, FL — The I-Team has reported how St. Petersburg plastic surgeon Dr. William Wright Adams operated on patients for three-and-a-half years after his first arrest for possession of methamphetamine.
During our reporting, patients reached out to us, alleging they suffered complications from Dr. Adams’ procedures.
And some say they believe the Florida Board of Medicine, which is supposed to ensure the fitness and competence of doctors, let them down.
“We look at ourselves daily and see the scars”
“I got married on April 1st. On April 27, I had the surgery, and my life changed,” said Diane D’Angelo, one of Dr. Adams’ former patients.
Diane D’Angelo said after Dr. Adams performed surgery on her, her breast deflated, she got an infection, and her wound reopened nearly two months later.
“I look at my wedding pictures, and I look really nice and now if I even thought to put on that dress, I couldn’t even wear it. My whole body changed,” D’Angelo said.
Patti Montefusco had to go to a wound specialist after an infection following breast implant surgery.
According to her medical records, she also had to undergo additional surgery because her left breast was much higher than her right breast after Dr. Adams replaced her implants.
“He put my implant under the muscle instead of over it,” Montefusco said.
Racheal Hoffman said she underwent multiple surgeries and suffered repeated infections after going to Dr. Adams for breast augmentation.
“Three years of pain and hell, basically,” Hoffman said. “If you look at us, you can’t tell, you know. But we look at ourselves daily and see the scars.”
Those patients believe the state should have taken action after Adams’ 2020 arrest for possession of methamphetamine.
“They failed us. They failed all of us,” D’Angelo said.
Two drug arrests, but surgery continued
According to his arrest report, deputies found crystal meth in Adams’ bag on June 17, 2020, as Adams was going through security at the Pinellas County Justice Center.
Prosecutors dropped the case four months later.
“They did a thorough investigation and determined they couldn’t connect the drugs to him in that case,” said Adams’ attorney Kevin Hayslett.
Dr. Adams was arrested again in May of 2022 after he was pulled over for questioning about a 2021 burglary.
During that traffic stop, police seized crystal meth.
Adams told officers he was on his way to his office to perform surgery.
“They’re putting someone to sleep right now for me to operate on. So I have to call them if I can’t be there,” Dr. Adams told officers on body camera footage obtained by the I-Team.
Under Florida law, Adams was not required to report his drug arrests to the Florida Department of Health or the Florida Board of Medicine, which regulates his license.
We’ve learned others reported Adams’ arrest to the state and an investigator was assigned to his case, but Adams was never brought before the Florida Board of Medicine for a discipline hearing.
“We never got to that point. Had a hearing taken place, I don’t know what would have happened,” Hayslett said.
When asked whether the state was not looking after patients, Hayslett said, “That’s a good question for the medical board.”
“You’re innocent until proven guilty”
When we didn’t get responses to our emails to the board, we traveled to Orlando, where there was a meeting in early December.
The Board’s chairman, Dr. Scot Ackerman, agreed to an interview about the process of investigating, prosecuting, and disciplining medical doctors.
“Every complaint is taken seriously. There’s a whole stack of complaints. And we have a very large staff that looks at that, and when they find that there’s real cause, then that’s acted on,” Ackerman said.
He said the amount of time it takes to impose sanctions or discipline depends on the circumstances of the case.
“If it’s something egregious, there’s usually an emergency restrictive order that comes from the surgeon general,” Ackerman said.
We showed Dr. Adams’ former patients our interview with Ackerman.
“I wonder what an egregious mishap is?” Montefusco said.
We asked Ackerman if Adams should have had to report his drug arrests to the state.
“You know this is America, and you’re innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
No drug test was required by the Department of Health
“They should have drug tested him,” said Adams’ former patient Frankie Styles, who said she reported his drug use to the state.
“It should have been a priority,” said Hoffman.
Professional pilots are regularly tested for drugs, and positive tests are reported to the FAA, which suspends their medical certification.
In Florida, a commercial truck driver’s license is suspended for a year for refusing a drug test.
“I’m not sure they can ask him to submit to a drug test,” Ackerman said.
He said determining whether a physician is using drugs is the job of police, not the Florida Board of Medicine.
But medical malpractice attorney Jack Gordon said it’s easier for the Florida Board of Medicine to take action than it is for state prosecutors.
“The state must prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The Department of Health must prove by a preponderance of the evidence,” Gordon said.
Gordon said state law allows the board to compel a doctor to submit to a mental or physical exam, but the doctor can fight that request in court.
Swiss cheese model
A Florida Department of Health diagram showed the enforcement process takes 11 steps from complaint to final discipline order, with ways to dismiss a case or reduce penalties along the way.
It is a complex procedure involving different divisions of the Department of Health before cases are brought to a probable cause committee.
If probable cause is found, and the case goes before the Florida Board of Medicine, only then do the allegations in the complaints become public.
“You’re gonna have a few bad actors that fall through the cracks. But we really have a Swiss cheese model here. Meaning the holes are in different areas, but mostly everyone gets caught,” Ackerman said.
Patients we interviewed said that does not instill trust in the process for them.
“I want to reassure Floridians that the healthcare being provided by physicians in Florida is top-notch. And it’s being monitored appropriately,” Ackerman said.
“This case never went to hearing. So, in this case, he practiced the entire time,” Hayslett said.
How to check out your doctor
Three weeks after Dr. Adams pleaded guilty to felony drug possession and checked himself into rehab, the Florida Department of Health website showed his license is clear and active with no history of discipline or complaints.
You can go here to check out your doctor.
The site shows education, board certifications, prior disciplines, malpractice settlements, and other information.
If you have a story you’d like the I-Team to investigate, email us at adam@abcactionnews.com
