A woman died after a gall bladder removal. Here’s what happened to the Florida doctor

David J. Neal
·2 min read
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A 35-year-old woman died after gall bladder surgery in 2020. Three years later, the Sebring doctor involved has been fined $5,000 by the state Board of Medicine.

Dr. Gregg Shore’s total punishment in the final order posted Tuesday includes $5,918 of the Florida Department of Health’s case costs; take a five-hour continuing medical education (CME) course in risk management; another five-hour (CME) course in perioperative management of gall bladder surgery; and a letter of concern filed against his license.

The total cash cost of $10,918 comes a year and a half after a malpractice suit was settled and Shore paid the patient’s estate $250,000, none of which was from insurance, according to state records. Noral Insurance, per state records, paid the estate $250,000 each for Dr. Mogin Antoine, now of North Miami, and advanced practice registered nurse Michael Hernicz. Health Care Indemnity paid $3 million on behalf of what’s now HCA Florida Highlands Hospital.

This closes the first of five cases, three of which involve deaths, the board will consider involving Shore. He’s been licensed in Florida since Aug. 25, 2004 without previous disciplinary action and is board certified by the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery.

READ MORE: A Florida doctor had 3 patient deaths and removed a wrong organ over 9 months, state says

Deadly gall bladder surgery

On Sept. 18, 2020, a 35-year-old woman checked in to what was then Highlands Regional Hospital for an elective gall bladder removal by Shore to deal with chronic gall bladder swelling and gallstones.

The administrative complaint on this case said in addition to difficulty removing the gall bladder, Shore documented a liver lobe tear that caused 500 ml of blood loss. Going into post-anesthesia care, her blood pressure was 68/38. Her hemoglobin measure revealed she had low fluid levels. She received blood transfusions for up to four hours. Still, she died at 9:35 p.m.

The complaint said Shore should have gotten help from a vascular surgeon and should have bought her back into the operating room for an abdominal cavity surgery to control the bleeding.