(Photo courtesy of the Iowa Board of Medicine)
The Iowa Board of Medicine has refused, for the third time, to license a physician who was hoping to practice medicine in Iowa.
Dr. Brett Snodgrass of Hazelwood, Missouri, took the Iowa Board of Medicine to court last year, seeking judicial review of a June 2023 board decision denying him a license to practice in Iowa. The board’s decision, as well as one in 2021, was based on questions pertaining to Snodgrass’ moral character.
In its decision this month to again reject Snodgrass’ application for licensure, the Iowa board reiterated its concerns and said Snodgrass “has again failed to produce sufficient evidence to carry his burden of proof to show that he has been rehabilitated.”
Snodgrass obtained his medical degree in 2007, but board records indicate he has not been licensed anywhere to practice as a physician.
Documents from the Missouri Administrative Hearings Commission outline the specific concerns raised by regulators there in 2013 and which form the basis for the Iowa board’s decisions.
The Missouri commission records indicate Snodgrass attended medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and earned his M.D. in May 2007. In his last year of medical school, he was accepted into a residency program at Carolinas Medical Center in North Carolina.
Within a few months, however, he was informed that he would not be accepted into the five-year general surgery residency program. According to the commission records, a supervisor wrote in an evaluation of Snodgrass that he “does not have the skills to be a caregiver of humans” and that he instilled “fear, rather than confidence, in nurses, patients and their families.”
In 2008, Snodgrass entered UMKC’s four-year pathology residency program. By December 2010, he had been placed on a remediation plan, and the interim head of the residency program, Dr. Kamanisnodgr Lankachandra, expressed concerns with what she called Snodgrass’ “substandard behavior,” chronic tardiness, disheveled appearance and “utter inability to follow instructions.”
Harassment led to criminal conviction
Snodgrass’ attorney later filed papers with Missouri licensing officials in which Snodgrass admitted having engaged in a string of harassing actions aimed at Lankachandra and which resulted in a 2012 conviction on a charge of disturbing the peace.
According to the Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts, Snodgrass sent as many as 500,000 emails to Lankachandra; created a Facebook page about Lankachandra that included negative comments about her behavior and professionalism; used Lankachandra’s name and personal information – including loan documents and insurance records — to have her bombarded with mass mailings from various organizations; and posed as Lankachandra in seeking help for addiction issues from various drug rehabilitation facilities.
The records also indicate the Missouri board accused Snodgrass of making “harassing and threatening” phone calls to a colleague while using a fake Indian accent, and that while at Truman Medical Center, he dictated notes for transcriptionists using a fake Indian accent.
In 2013, Snodgrass allegedly posted two ads to Craigslist that included a drawing of a man resembling a terrorist with a bomb strapped to his chest. One of the ads was captioned, “Rice[in] inside a can, for sale (F— UMKC],” and the other was captioned, “Looking for a consultant, labor person [meet at second floor].”
Snodgrass later told licensing officials the ads, which drew the attention of the FBI and resulted in increased security at Truman Medical Center, were posted to “get the attention of UKMC” so he could clear up any issues involving the residency program.
In November 2013, the Missouri Division of Professional Regulation notified Snodgrass his application for a medical license was being denied. He subsequently submitted applications for licensure in Connecticut and Illinois without success.
In 2020, he submitted an application for medical licensure in Iowa. In July 2021, his application was denied. Snodgrass appealed that decision, which led to a hearing in March 2022. The board ruled that if Snodgrass chose to submit to a set of evaluations he could submit the results of the assessments to the board, which would then consider granting him a license.
According to the board, Snodgrass subsequently stated he wanted to omit any psychological testing from the evaluations and indicated he’d only agree to competency testing by an entity of his own choosing.
Last year, the board voted again to deny Snodgrass’ application for an Iowa license, citing insufficient evidence of rehabilitation. Snodgrass then sought judicial review of that decision but within a few weeks he dropped the matter and the case was dismissed.
On Nov. 15, the board found there was still a lack of evidence indicating Snodgrass was rehabilitated and, for the third time, it denied his application.
In its decision, the board noted that it was “aware Dr. Snodgrass failed his psychological screening, but the results of such are not included in the record since Dr. Snodgrass had the authority to decide whether to submit such, and he does not want it considered.”