Witnesses said Kentucky doctor hit a patient. State places his license on probation.

A doctor who witnesses said hit a patient during surgery has agreed to have his license placed on probation for five years.

The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure released the agreement with Dr. William R. Martin this week.

Martin, an orthopedic surgeon in Owensboro, denied hitting the patient, but agreed to a period of probation in lieu of having the board issue a complaint against him, according to the order.

The incident happened in August 2023 at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital.

One witness who was in the operating room said Martin was having trouble removing an instrument from a tube placed in a patient’s shoulder during surgery.

Martin raised his voice, and after getting the instrument out, hit the patient on the right side of the face with his hand, the witness said.

A second employee who was there said Martin was “visibly upset” while trying to pull out the instrument and punched the patient, according to the KBML order.

A third employee said when Martin’s use of the instrument wasn’t going like he wanted, he got mad, “yanked” it out and hit the patient in the face, according to the order.

Martin told a hospital committee that he had no recollection of the event but that he would never intentionally hit a patient.

He also said he didn’t think it would be possible to hit the patient in the face given their relative positions.

Martin told the committee he may have moved a surgical drape, but reiterated he would never hit someone, according to an order from the licensure board.

The hospital’s Medical Executive Committee voted to terminate Martin’s privileges at the hospital.

Martin later told the licensure board that he believed he had batted at the drapes, which others misinterpreted as hitting the patient.

He also suggested the executive committee at the hospital was biased against him because it was made up of doctors employed by the facility, which he alleged was in competition with his orthopedic group, according to the board order.

The board said that based on the facts stipulated in the case, Martin engaged in conduct that violated a provision of state law.

That provision allows the board to impose sanctions when a hospital has terminated a doctor’s privilege to practice if that discipline was based on what the hospital found to be unprofessional conduct.

Under the agreement with the board, Martin’s license will be on probation for five years and he must undergo an assessment at a behavioral health program.