Medford anesthesiologist still practicing after fellow Colorado doctor settles suit over patient death

Published 3:24 pm Friday, August 1, 2025

Bart Writer, 56, died after routine cataract surgery; Michael J. Urban obtained a license to practice medicine in Oregon only months after the man’s death

A Southern Oregon doctor currently being investigated by law enforcement for his role in the February 2023 death of a patient in Colorado was disciplined by the Oregon Medical Board earlier this year — nearly two years after the death — for omitting the incident from his application to practice medicine in Oregon.

Legal experts say the ease with which the man, 67-year-old Dr. Michael J. Urban, was able to apply for an Oregon medical license — just weeks after the death of a patient — underscores the need for stringent checks and balances by state agencies tasked with policing doctors.

Urban, an anesthesiologist who practices in both Medford and Grants Pass, made headlines following settlement of a civil suit against the surgeon overseeing the case, Carl Starck Johnson, who was sued after 56-year-old certified financial planner Bart Writer suffered prolonged loss of oxygen to his brain and went into cardiac arrest during cataract surgery at the InSight Surgery Center in Lone Tree, Colorado.

Urban, the anesthesiologist during Writer’s surgery and then medical director of the facility, was not named as a defendant in the suit. The family of the man who died sued Johnson under a “captain of the ship” doctrine, said Denver attorney Lorraine Parker, who represented Writer’s family.

“In Colorado, the surgeon is in overall charge of the operating room during an operation, as what we call the ‘captain of the ship,’” Parker said in an interview with the Rogue Valley Times. “It is the surgeon’s responsibility to make sure everyone is doing their job. … He has the right to control what they are doing by giving orders.”

Dr. Michael J. Urban, pictured during a deposition for a civil lawsuit against Dr. C. Starck Johnson. Urban provided anesthesia services during the surgery and reportedly played a game called “music Bingo” during the surgery, during which alarms were reportedly silenced, according to court documents. (Court screen grab)

Depositions from the civil suit, copies of which were obtained by the Times, reported that Urban was using his cell phone to play songs for a game called “music Bingo.” The game involves playing different songs until the letters making up the word “Bingo” come up as either a song title or artist name. InSight Surgery Center staff testified in court that Urban and Johnson played the game regularly, according to documents reviewed by the Times.

According to court documents, Writer was placed under anesthesia at 12:48 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2023, and covered in a drape so that only the eye from which the cataract was to be removed was visible. In the 28 minutes between Writer being placed under anesthesia and operating staff noticing at 1:16 p.m. that his vitals were abnormal, the Bingo game played out while Writer’s brain went without oxygen, resulting in “severe global anoxic brain injury” and cardiac arrest.

Staff would later report that prior to a Code Blue — meaning a patient has experienced cardiac or respiratory arrest — being called at 1:17 p.m., none of the alarms, tones or auditory signals had sounded, court records show.

Urban applies for license in Oregon

Following the death of her husband of 23 years, Denver resident Chris Writer said she was contacted by another doctor from the facility, which had declared Bart Writer’s death “a horrible accident,” she told the Times in an interview.

The doctor told Writer that medical staff had been distracted by the music Bingo game, which was played regularly during surgeries at the facility, and that alarms connected to medical equipment monitoring her husband’s vitals had been silenced.

Writer said she was “shocked and horrified.”

“It was a total disregard for human life, no different than somebody getting drunk and getting in a car and hitting someone,” she said this week.

“Some of those machines make a constant sound and any one of the staff should have noticed the absence of those familiar sounds. … Everyone in that room is responsible for the death of my husband. But most especially Dr. Urban and Dr. Johnson,” Chris Writer said.

Following the cataract surgery that day in February 2023, Bart Writer never regained consciousness. His official date of death, due to “severe global anoxic brain injury” was Feb. 5, 2023, according to a medical examiner’s report obtained by the Times.

Three days later, on Feb. 8, 2023, the Governing Board of Insight Surgery Center informed Urban of its intent to issue a precautionary suspension pending an investigation into his care of Writer, according to court documents. Urban resigned immediately as medical director of the surgery center and resigned his medical staff privileges in lieu of an investigation.

Less than two weeks after Writer’s death, on Feb. 16, 2023, Urban, who was first licensed in July 1990, applied for a license to practice medicine in Oregon. The license was issued on April 7, 2023. Urban posted a photo of a moving truck to social media on April 11, 2023, stating in a social media post, “Early retirement present. A new home in Medford, OR.”

According to Jackson County property records, the Urban Family Trust, for which Urban is listed as a trustee, purchased a two-story, 2,154-square-foot home in East Medford for $610,000 on April 4, 2023.

When filling out a personal history questionnaire for the Oregon Medical Board during the licensing process, Urban was asked to disclose any prior disciplinary actions, including whether he had ever had any privileges “denied, reduced, restricted, suspended, revoked or terminated;” whether he had ever been asked to voluntarily resign or have privileges suspended; and whether he had ever been under investigation by a hospital, clinic, surgical center, or other medically related entity.

Urban answered “no,” according to documents obtained by the Times from the Oregon Medical Board.

Surgery center reports Urban 

Four months after Writer’s death, in June 2023, InSight Surgery Center reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank that Urban had voluntarily surrendered his clinical privileges while under — or to avoid — investigation relating to “professional competence or conduct,” according to court records.

Eleven months later, in May 2024, the Oregon Medical Board — which had approved Urban’s license in April 2023 — issued a Notice of Proposed Discipline due to alleged violations of the Medical Practice Act (state law) “regarding fraud or misrepresentation in applying for or procuring a license to practice in this state and willful violation of any rule adopted by the board.”

A final ruling in January 2025 resulted in a $5,000 fine and a requirement at Urban’s own expense that he enter into an agreement with a licensed board-certified anesthesiologist who is pre-approved by the Oregon Medical Board’s medical director to serve as his mentor.

Urban is also required to discuss his anesthetic plan with his mentor prior to beginning the anesthetic for 30% of his cases for an 18-month period and is required to provide his case log to the Oregon Medical Board on request.

While Johnson continues to practice in Colorado — more than two years after Writer’s death — and is free of any disciplinary actions, the Colorado Medical Board filed a Non-Disciplinary Interim Cessation of Practice on Urban’s license in Colorado this year on March 21.

According to the agency’s license verification web page and documents obtained by the Times, Urban “denies any and all allegations of a violation of the Medical Practice,” but he voluntarily entered into the Interim Cessation of Practice agreement “to facilitate further evaluation of the issues related to Case Numbers 2023-3495, 2024-5022, and 2025-472.”

Urban’s Colorado license expired April 30, but Colorado Medical Board officials confirm a final order still has not been issued in reference to three case numbers assigned to Urban’s temporary license cessation.

“An expired license does not negate previous actions and the (interim cessation of practice)  remains in place until a final resolution is reached,” Colorado Medical Board officials told the Times in a written statement.

Urban did not respond to numerous requests to be interviewed by the Times. The requests were made from July 25 through late Friday morning, through both medical offices listed on Urban’s Oregon state medical license — Cascade Surgery Center in Grants Pass and Southern Oregon Anesthesia in Medford.

Urban’s Colorado attorney, Carmen Decker, of Hershey Decker PLLC in Lone Tree, Colorado, in an email on Friday afternoon, offered a written statement. Decker noted that Urban was “very well-respected in his field and has been a member of many hospital committees and has been the medical director for multiple surgery centers” and that his relocation to Oregon was in order to be near family.

“Dr. Urban has been honored to care for thousands of patients over his more than 35-year career, including many of his surgical colleagues’ family and friends at their personal request,” the statement read. “Dr. Urban stands by his care and treatment of Mr. Writer and disagrees with the surgeon’s characterizations of the events of that day, which we understand were made in the context of a contentious lawsuit against the surgeon.

“Dr. Urban was not a party to the litigation. He is nonetheless extremely sympathetic towards Ms. Writer and her loss,” Decker wrote.

Cascade Surgery Center officials did not return numerous requests for comment. Representatives for Southern Oregon Anesthesia identified Urban as an independent contractor and declined comment.

Contacted by the Times, Providence Medford Medical Center said Urban does not have privileges there. Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford said in statement issued to the Times late Friday night that Urban also has no privileges at the hospital.

Writer, citing the court case against Johnson, said she never imagined Urban would be able to continue to practice medicine after being implicated by Johnson and numerous staff for causing her husband’s death. 

“As soon as we found out about the music Bingo, and the alarms being turned off, I just figured that was it. I didn’t think he would be able to practice again, or at least not until an investigation was done,” she said. 

“It’s been two-and-a-half years, and he’s been practicing this whole time. And now Oregon residents have been put at risk this whole time. They’ve known about this for at least a year, and they still allow him to practice.”

Medical board review process

Contacted by Times, the Oregon Medical Board said agency officials were unavailable to be interviewed but responded via email offering insight into the state’s licensing process. The agency, which faced scrutiny following an Oregon Secretary of State audit released in January 2024 for “inconsistent and inequitable disciplinary process,” processes thousands of applications for medical licenses each year, the email stated.

The Oregon Medical Board consists of 14 members, including six medical doctors, two doctors of osteopathic medicine, one doctor of podiatric medicine (DPM), two physician associates and three public members representing health consumers. Each member is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate, serving a three-year term with the possibility of reappointment for a second term. 

During the 2024 calendar, the board received 4,585 applications for medical doctors, doctors of osteopathic medicine, doctors of podiatric medicine, physician associates and acupuncturists. OMB staff reported some 51% of all active “MD/DO physician licensees” hold licenses in another state or states, according to 2023 statistics.

Between 2020 and 2024, the OMB issued eight public orders denying licensure or allowing an applicant to withdraw under investigation. 

Medical board officials said all physician applicants are queried through the National Provider Databank and enrolled in the NPDB’s continuous query process for one year following application for an Oregon medical license.

In the case of Urban, since Colorado did not issue a cessation of practice until after Urban obtained an Oregon medical license, the incident in Colorado had not been publicly reported. As to disciplinary actions taken in other states, Oregon Medical Board officials said the agency “reviews actions taken in other states for their investigation findings and may open a case depending on the results.”

OMB officials released an additional statement to the Times on Friday, which stated, “The OMB’s licensing, monitoring, and investigations processes are designed to fulfill the Board’s mission of protecting patients. Every procedure, from initial licensing to ongoing oversight and discipline, serves to ensure that qualified and competent physicians, PAs, and acupuncturists practice in Oregon. Through these interconnected processes, the OMB maintains high standards of medical practice to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of Oregon citizens by regulating the practice of medicine in a manner that promotes access to quality care.”

Meanwhile, Urban is also the subject of a criminal investigation by the city of Lone Tree Police Department, which confirmed to the Times in mid-July that the case had been assigned to investigators.

‘Doctors policing doctors’

Legal experts and healthcare advocates say state agencies are short on resources, and entities made up of industry professionals who police one another can be problematic.

Greg Kafoury, an attorney for Kafoury & McDougal Attorneys in Portland which specializes in personal injury and malpractice cases, said he has witnessed myriad instances of doctors who “shouldn’t have been practicing” had been given countless “get out of jail free cards” by the state medical board.

“Every board, which is designed to protect the public and which regulates professionals, is at great and constant risk of protecting the professionals instead of protecting the public,” Kafoury said.

“I would say that the medical board is notorious for protecting doctors and knowingly exposing the people of Oregon to unnecessary risks,” Kafoury claimed. “It’s doctors judging doctors. And when they have a problem, they just show up somewhere else.”

Medford attorney David deVilleneuve concurred, surmising that an ongoing state and national shortage of healthcare providers could come into play where the discipline of doctors is concerned.

DeVilleneuve told the Times that his experiences as an attorney had given him the impression “that Oregon is kind of an easy place to go to get your medical license and practice and hide out if you need to.” 

DeVilleneuve offered an analogy about state agencies charging industry professionals with policing one another.

“Years ago, the Oregon Legislature created the insurance commission, an agency that polices insurance companies. When I was a new lawyer, I filed complaints all the time. … and in twenty-some-odd years of existence, I don’t think they ever suspended any insurance company’s license.”

Where the state medical board is concerned, deVilleneuve said, “Personal injury attorneys, I believe, are the only ones policing doctors … because I’m not sure I trust the Oregon Medical Association to do it.”

Fifty-six-year-old Bart Writer, middle left, died following routine cataract surgery at the InSight Surgery Center in Lone Tree, Colorado. Writer, with family and friends, pictured during a rafting trip on the Deschutes River. (Photo courtesy Chris Writer)

Family waiting for answers

Chris Writer said her family continues to wait for answers and is hopeful for results from both the criminal investigation in Lone Tree, Colorado, and the review by the Colorado Medical Board.

“The Oregon Medical Board basically told me they were waiting to see what Colorado did before they decide what they’ll do.”

Writer, who recently went public about her husband’s death, said the family was still in disbelief “that both doctors are still practicing.”

“We want accountability for what happened to us and we want for this to never happen to another family. … Bart was 56 years old and in the prime of his life. The loss of Bart has left a huge hole in our family, in our lives and in so many hearts,” Writer said.

“My husband had cataract surgery and he died from their negligence. … They played music and turned off the alarm and they had no idea he was even in trouble until he had turned blue. My husband died and they went on as if it had never happened. They never missed a beat.”

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or buffy.pollock@rv-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated with comment from Asante health officials.