An emergency room doctor will no longer be allowed to practice medicine in New Jersey after she agreed to relinquish her license due to allegations of “gross negligence, gross malpractice, and gross incompetence” in the death of a 20-year-old patient, authorities said Thursday.
Dr. Shar Kennett signed a consent order last month with the State Board of Medical Examiners, almost a year after she admitted at a hearing that she did not order any diagnostic tests for the patient, who was at Overlook Medical Center in Summit.
The case dates back to June 29, 2017, when a young man who was having trouble breathing was brought into Overlook’s emergency room, where Kennett was on duty. Authorities said the patient’s condition was labeled urgent, but Kennett failed to examine him and did not order any diagnostic testing despite urgent requests from the patient’s parents.
The patient died from respiratory arrest that night, the consent order says. He has not been publicly identified by the State Board of Medical Examiners.