Crimeproof your practice: How to improve office safety

To reduce the chances that a criminal act affects your practice, experts say you need a plan to handle security, and a plan for what to do if a situation develops.

By John McCormick, AMNews correspondent. April 21, 2008.

In February, David Glener, MD, was seriously injured after a would-be patient came to his office, caused a disturbance in the waiting room and struck the Port St. Lucie, Fla., pain management doctor with a walking cane.

"This has ruined my life," said Dr. Glener, who has undergone two surgeries to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder. "I have not been able to do procedures. I am struggling to see patients. I can't sleep well at night, and I might be facing a legal battle with disability -- not to mention the psychological issues associated with being a victim." The alleged assailant was arrested on aggravated battery and breach of peace charges, but has not yet been convicted.

Dr. Glener is not alone. Other doctors and their staff members have been the victims of crimes in their offices, some of which have drawn a high profile:

• In June 2007, Dawn Denize Wright, a receptionist at a San Diego doctor's office, was fatally shot at her desk by a man who initially greeted her with a bouquet of roses. Wright's boyfriend, also the father of the 3-month-old fetus she was carrying, has been charged.
• In October 2006, David Cornbleet, MD, was stabbed to death after office hours in Chicago. Police say a former patient has admitted to killing the dermatologist because a prescribed acne treatment had caused impotence. Authorities in the United States have failed to extradite the former patient from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, where he is in jail.