Dr. Christopher Parker Gay - A Danger to His Patients?

Sheffield's Christopher Parker Gay is a 41 year-old Osteopath and, until recently, a staff member at Helen Keller Hospital. On May 20th, the Alabama Medical License Commission voted to suspend Dr. Gay's certification to practice in the state, and, according to many of his patients, it came as no surprise.

Christoper Gay graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1994 with a major in biology. Fifteen months later, Gay enrolled at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience where he received his Doctor of Osteopathy degree in 1999. Immediately following his graduation, the newly minted D.O. began an internship and residency at the Northwest Regional Medical Center in Anniston, before moving to Sheffield in 2002.

By all accounts, Dr. Gay was well liked by both patients and colleagues. Gay purchased a home on Harbor View Drive overlooking the Tennessee River and indicated he planned to make the small Colbert County town of Sheffield his permanent home. A friend remarked the only shadow on Gay's life was an unspecified chronic illness that afflicted his wife.

By early 2008, friends and patients began to notice a change in Christopher Gay. The Osteopath began to put on weight and often missed office appointments. He instructed his staff not to open shipments of narcotics which he immediately removed to his home. As Gay began to spend less and less time at his office, he frequently left signed blank prescriptions with his nurses to use as needed for patients.

It's unclear how long Dr. Gay could have continued in this manner, but on April 30th a family member reported him to the Alabama Physicians' Health Program, an organization that promotes the mental and physical well being of the state's doctors. The APHP then notified the Medical License Commission which attempted to talk with Dr. Gay in person. After several failed attempts, the Board finally contacted Dr. Gay by phone. It was during this interview that Gay admitted the occasional use of Lorcet and Xanax, but denied he had a problem.

When pressed for drug testing, Dr. Gay thwarted the Commission's requests by shaving his body and trimming his nails. Without hair or nail samples, the Commission was then unable to determine the length or extent of Gay's drug usage. They did note his growing obesity and the abscesses surrounding what appeared to be needle marks. On May 20, 2009, the Alabama Medical License Commission suspended Christopher Parker Gay's license to practice in the state, stating that he "may constitute an immediate danger to his patients and the public." Dr. Gay will have an opportunity to answer the charges at a Montgomery hearing on August 23rd.


What's up with this: Helen Keller is the only local hospital currently in the financial black. It will be interesting to see if any lawsuits result from Dr. Christopher Gay's actions.