AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A spokesman for Oklahoma's governor says then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry called in 2013 and asked about a years-long investigation into a Tulsa surgeon who was a Perry donor.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said Wednesday that Perry contacted Fallin and "asked her to look into" an investigation of spinal surgeon Steven Anagnost.
Weintz says Fallin's general counsel subsequently contacted Oklahoma's medical board and said it should "either take action or let it go." However, a memo written by Dr. Eric Frische, the medical board's medical advisor contains this comment, "“He (Mullins) told us that he wasn’t here to interfere with the work of the board but Gov. Fallin didn’t want any more calls from Rick Perry about this, that Gov. Perry said it was a travesty and what would it take to make it go away,”
Anagnost was accused of serious violations involving 23 patients. But after the counsel's call, the 3-plus-year investigation was dropped after a settlement was reached.
Word of Perry's intervention was first reported by The Dallas Morning News and The Frontier, a Tulsa-based investigative news website.
The head of Oklahoma's Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision did not return messages seeking comment.
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