The June 2019 murder/suicide of a close friend, Dr. Benjamin Eric First, led TellItWrite founder Chuck Miller to deeply investigate how state authorities and Florida’s Professionals Resource Network (formerly Physicians Recovery Network) permitted the maxillofacial surgeon to continually practice for nearly two decades, regardless of how at risk he became.

“The PRN program and Florida medical boards clearly give impaired doctors extraordinary leeway and protection,” Miller said, questioning the balance between the organization’s mission to support the recovery of impaired physicians without endangering the public. “It’s been five years since Ben took the life of an innocent woman along with his own – and state officials as well as local law enforcement could have and should have intervened in ways that were more likely to prevent such a tragedy.” {See related release on currently practicing doctor in Punta Gorda.}

Privileges doctors don’t deserve
Miller contends that documented cases in Florida and across the nation reflect too much concession to medical practitioner interests. Florida’s PRN program emerged in the early 1980s and was among the country’s first “physician health programs,” a model followed by other states. Miller describes Dr. First as a “profoundly personal example of how wrong such good intentions can go,” citing that the doctor’s nearly 20-year history of operating in New Port Richey and Palm Harbor, FL, included:

• Multiple rehab stints imposed for drug and alcohol abuse, beginning soon after he was issued his first license to practice oral surgery in 2000

• At least two hospitalizations due to overdoses on nitrous oxide supplies on hand in his offices for patient pain management

• Lengthy criminal record ranging from assault and battery charges to domestic violence with strangulation and witness tampering, resulting in six months in jail

• Increasingly negative reviews on social media with incidents alleging negligence for everything from services owed to near-lethal anesthetic dose requiring hospitalization

• After release from jail on plea bargain for assault and witness tampering, resumed practicing and, desperate for money, took on high-risk patients, one who suffered cardiac arrest during a procedure before dying shortly thereafter in ER

• Resided off and on in his office until a former patient who reconnected through a procedure for her daughter ended up inviting him to live with her; he shot her through the head six months later before doing the same to himself in her condo

“I believe my friend’s final victim’s death was highly preventable,” Miller said. “She turned out to be one among other women Ben terrorized, including at gunpoint for days. Being a doctor gave them a false sense of security and trust in someone they often barely knew.”

Among the 20-plus interviews Miller conducted for the My Friend Ben podcast, an expert in 911 operator training mentioned that Dr. First’s professional status may even have contributed to why responding officers didn’t take decisive action to save her. This “final victim” of Dr. First trusted him enough to invite him to live with her when he was destitute and just off probation for domestic violence with strangulation of a previous girlfriend.

The new girlfriend knew him from being a patient several years prior to recommending her daughter consult with Dr. First on a procedure she needed. Several weeks later, signs of his volatility and aggression surfaced. His victim and her family members weren’t sure if he deserved their acceptance – and “ultimately let her decide the worst for herself,” Miller said.

Program leaders estimate that more than 10,000 doctors and other licensed medical practitioners have been referred to PRN since its inception. According to the organization’s most recently posted “annual” report, more than 600 are currently participating in what the organization refers to as “an alternative to the Florida Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) disciplinary process.”

Keeping their distance
Prior to 2006, DOH and DBPR jointly administered the PRN program before opting to create a separate yet affiliated group to assume primary responsibilities. In addition to other perceived advantages, studies show that impaired doctors are more likely to seek help if they feel their licenses and practices aren’t overtly at risk. PRN’s website states that “many healthcare professionals participate in PRN instead of the disciplinary process.”

Participant satisfaction, program completion and license retention are considered indicators of the PRN program’s success. Such criteria suggests that Dr. First is included among the legions of positive examples reflected in corresponding statistics PRN releases. Dr. Stanley Mark Dratler, who still practices in Punta Gorda, Fla., is presumably another “success story” in this context. {See related release}. 

The most lurid aspects of his practicing history, reportedly drugging and sexually abusing numerous patients, included girls as young as 14. Miller says he discovered additional transgressions that may not have ever been known by PRN or state medical boards. The Missouri medical board essentially ousted Dratler when they learned of his offenses in their state as he was set to become head of obstetrics and gynecology at the soon-to-open St. Louis Medical Center in 1989. Although Dratler “volunteered” to cease practicing in their state, Florida medical board authorities suspended his license for three years yet gave him a path to continue practicing as he became one of the earliest participants in PRN.

Underreported disciplinary actions
The Florida Health website search tool for available disciplinary actions taken against doctors and other healthcare professionals contains a related link for Dratler that “completely obfuscates and minimizes his lengthy record of disturbing issues,” Miller said. He found that Dr. Ben First’s public records never contained any disciplinary actions against him as he practiced for nearly two decades.

“Withholding or misrepresenting physician histories squarely points to why changes are needed and long overdue,” Miller added. “Too much remains weighted in favor of protecting physicians and their medical licenses – in Florida and across the nation.”

Not only are impaired doctors getting off easier than they should, the public is unnecessarily at higher risk, Miller underscored. “PRN and PHP program lapses should never be a contributor to deaths, injuries, financial losses and other trauma. This has been happening for decades and needs to be acknowledged and addressed in a meaningful way.”

My Friend Ben, currently live on Spotify and five other podcast platforms, includes additional information about how physician health programs give “malevolent doctors way too much leeway.” A TellItWrite blog series also goes into additional detail about respective protections and the podcast, which is based on extensive research and interviews conducted over the past two years.

“I was shocked by how easily my friend escaped greater scrutiny and actions to control his worsening behavior,” Miller said, acknowledging that he and many others could have done more to help prevent what occurred. “The only thing that ultimately stopped Ben was a gun in his own hand after he took an innocent life.”

About TellItWrite Publishing
TellItWrite Publishing, LLC, was formed in January 2022, as part of CEO Chuck Miller’s return to his roots as a journalist, which included writing for a broad range of magazines, newspapers and other media throughout his career. He most recently co-owned Tampa Bay-based CommCentric Solutions for 15 years, a firm ranked by Forrester as one of the Top 13 Technology Channel PR Firms globally. TellItWrite began with sharp focus on My Friend Ben, which is now available on five platforms: Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify and YouTube. Learn more at www.tellitwrite.org or email at [email protected].