A Florida doctor got his license renewed after a falsehood about his felonies, state says
Dr. Christopher Walker of Orlando remains under supervised release after his conviction on federal fraud charges. Walker also remains a defendant in a lawsuit filed after the death of a woman during a Brazilian butt lift the Florida Department of Health says he didn’t have “adequate education, training, and/or experience to perform.”
And according to the most recent Florida Department of Health administrative complaint against Walker, the gynecologist remains a licensed doctor at least in part because he put a falsehood on the license renewal application submitted Jan. 30.
The complaint, the fifth against Walker since March 2021, says the renewal application asks if the applicant has been convicted of, or plead guilty or no contest to a felony relating to social or economic help, fraudulent practices, drug abuse prevention or control in Florida or any another state or jurisdiction.
Walker, the complaint said, answered “No.”
Walker pleaded guilty in January 2022 to travel act violation and travel act conspiracy, two forms of fraud, after a scheme designed to profit from women who wanted transvaginal mesh implant removals.
READ MORE: Fraud, illegal cosmetic surgeries, a butt-lift death lawsuit: Orlando’s ‘Dr. Downtown’
So Walker’s answer should have been: “Yes,” because he had pleaded guilty to a fraud crime in federal court.
Walker’s “medical license was renewed by the department on or about Jan. 30 in reliance on his application.”
When the Miami Herald called Walker for comment, his staff at UroGyn Specialists of Florida said he would call Tuesday at a specific time. Walker had not called as of 25 hours later.
Walker’s crime and punishment and complaints
Walker was sentenced to time served followed by two years of supervised release, which will end in January, and fined $50,000. That conviction spawned two of the five administrative complaints that appear to be pending on his online Florida Department of Health license profile.
Nov. 9, 2023: See above about license renewal.
Nov. 9, 2023: Walker was terminated from the Medicare program in September 2021 after pleading guilty to the crimes above. Getting kicked out of the Medicare or Medicaid programs makes you “subject to discipline” from the state Board of Medicine.
May 31, 2022: See above about the felonies.
Aug. 27, 2021: This complaint listed several problems with MedSurg Consultants, which operated in the same space now occupied by UroGyn. Walker was Med Surg’s designated physician, the person in charge of the facility being in compliance with state laws and guidelines. In addition to two other doctors who weren’t registered to perform surgeries there, the complaint said Walker not only lacked the training to perform cosmetic surgeries but lacked a transfer agreement or staff privileges at a nearby hospital in case something went very wrong. For the above issues, in a separate action, MedSurg’s office surgery registration license was revoked on Oct. 28, 2021. A search of online Florida Department of Health records of office surgery registration licenses in Uro Gyn’s ZIP Code doesn’t turn up Uro Gyn, or any facility that lists Walker as a practitioner able to work there.
March 26, 2021: The complaint says Walker, while performing a BBL at MedSurg “caused multiple intraabdominal injuries” that killed Ulesha Ortiz, 38. Walker, the complaint said, “knew or had reason to know that he was not competent to perform liposuction due to his lack of education, training,and/or experience.”
The malpractice lawsuit by Ortiz’s husband continues in Orange County. Walker’s license profile shows the March 16, 2021, emergency restriction order prohibiting him from liposuction surgeries remains in effect.
