Ryan

I. Background.

Ryan is a vascular surgeon. He was on the medical staff of Harbor-UCLA, a County operated facility, from October 2013 to October 2018, reporting to Dr. Rodney White, Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery, from 2013 to 2015.

We previously deferred ruling on Ryan’s motions for judicial notice, filed April 26, 2023 and April 4, 2024. We now deny them.

3 In December 2013, Ryan treated Bernetta Higgins (Higgins or B.H.) for an acute aortic dissection.2 Ryan prescribed medication for Higgins’s condition, which he concluded did not require surgery. The following month, Ryan was copied on an email written by Dr. White’s nurse that Ryan believed suggested Higgins had been coached to come into the emergency room the next day complaining of feigned chest pain. The email said: “Just wanted to inform you that we informed [Higgins] to come through the ER tomorrow morning complaining of chest pain. She has Health Net HMO. We would not be able to get authorization in time for us to do the CT scan. [¶] Dr. White [and] I spoke with the patient earlier this afternoon. This is our best option at this point.” Higgins was admitted to Harbor-UCLA on January 9, 2014. Four…