TN Health Department refuses to file case against man claiming to be ‘doctor’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Women thought he was a doctor who would treat infertility issues so they could have children.

However, an investigation by NewsChannel 5 revealed that he is not a doctor and is not even licensed to practice medicine.

However, the Tennessee Department of Health decided not to take any sanctions against the man who declared himself a doctor, saying there was not enough evidence that what he was doing was illegal.

Now former patients like Lauren Miller are confused and angry.

Miller had three separate appointments with Farere Dyer last year while trying to get pregnant.

“When he came into the room he said, ‘Hey, I’m Dr. Dyer,’ and then he sat down in one of those little wheelchairs,” Miller said.

And he wasn’t the only one.

This summer, when we met with former patients at the now-closed Center for Reproductive Health, we asked a room full of women: “Okay, first question. Showing your hands, how many of you had Farere Dyer patients?”

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Then hands went up.

Bethann Daugherty was one of the women at that meeting.

“He introduced himself as Dr. Dyer and everyone in the clinic referred to him as Dr. Dyer,” Daugherty said.

Dyer worked at the Center for Reproductive Health for four years.

But after the Nashville fertility clinic suddenly closed last April, our investigation first revealed that Dyer was not a doctor or any licensed medical professional.

“I felt really betrayed,” Miller said, remembering how he felt after seeing our initial report.

He said he, like many of Dyer’s other patients, immediately filed a complaint with the Tennessee Department of Health.

“Did anyone from the Health Department contact you? Did they call you to ask what Farere Dyer had done to you (after you made your complaint)?” We asked Miller.

“No,” he told us.

But six months later, the Department of Health sent a form letter to the women who complained, stating that the investigation found “insufficient evidence to conclude that Fare Dyer was practicing medicine in Tennessee without a license.”

The Tennessee Department of Health also announced in this letter that it had decided to “close the investigation without taking further action” against Dyer.

“I didn’t understand how this was possible,” Miller said.

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Patients like Miller can’t believe the Tennessee Department of Health’s findings because, according to the Department of Health’s own online license search portal, Farere Dyer does not have a Tennessee medical license and never has.

And according to the patients’ own medical records, he was their “doctor.”

“For me it looks pretty black and white. You (Dyer) were treating us, at least me specifically. You (Dyer) were treating me. So how can you (Ministry of Health) say that you (Ministry of Health) were not treating? You were treating unlicensed patients Didn’t you notice?” Miller wondered.

But the Tennessee Department of Health defended its decision, citing the Tennessee Board of Medicine’s policy that allows physicians with a Tennessee medical license to delegate certain services to employees who are not licensed physicians.

The policy also stated that delegated duties should be “routine, technical services,” such as “taking vital signs, taking history, assisting with minor procedures, and responding to patient calls.”

“When you take us into a room and go over our results with us and say, ‘Okay, this is what’s going on here and this is how I’m going to help you treat it’ (as Miller suggested Dyer do) that’s a whole different level of practice for me.” ” he said.

According to medical records of other patients, Dyer also performed more complex procedures on women in addition to intrauterine insemination.

We previously asked Sarah Davis, another former patient of Dyer’s, about her experience.

“How many IUIs have you had there?”

“Two,” he replied.

“So who carried these out?” we asked.

“They were both Dr. Dyer,” Davis told us.

Another former patient, Mary Schacher, told us about another experience that involved putting her to sleep.

“Dr. Dyer ‘slept’ me through my first IVF egg retrieval, which in itself is invasive and something else, like inserting a catheter and putting someone under.”

As we reported, the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office was considering filing criminal charges against Dyer for his actions, but sources tell us the reason charges were never filed was because the Tennessee Department of Health told DA Glenn Funk to drop the case.

“At what point will Dyer be held accountable for what he did? Is there any role he had that you know of in knowingly treating these patients? Where is that accountability?” Miller asked.

Miller added that the Tennessee Department’s decision in this case set a “very bad precedent” and wondered what would stop someone else from offering to become a doctor like Dyer now.

Bryan Staples/WTVF

“It looks like he got rid of Scot for free,” Miller said.

The Tennessee Department of Health declined our request for an interview, but in its letter to patients it said Dyer’s actions were not her fault, but rather her boss, the fertility clinic’s medical director, Dr. He said it was Jaime Vasquez’s fault. Duties assigned to Dyer.

Ministry, Dr. He said the investigation into Vasquez continues.

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