Doctor charged with manslaughter after patient dies during routine surgery

DENVER — A longtime Colorado anesthesiologist now faces manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges following the 2023 death of a patient during a routine eye surgery.

A grand jury in Douglas County elected to indict Dr. Michael Urban, 68, this week following an investigation into the death of Bart Writer. Writer stopped breathing while undergoing cataract surgery on Feb. 3, 2023, inside InSight Surgery Center’s Lone Tree facility. The surgeon, Dr. Urban, and some members of the medical team were playing a music bingo game during the surgery which Writer’s family believes caused them to miss critical signs that Writer was in severe medical distress.

9NEWS Investigates was first to report on the case back in July.  

Following the death, Dr. Urban moved to Oregon and continued to practice medicine for many months following the death. He has since retired from medical practice. A warrant is now out for his arrest.

“There is no joy. Certainly, there is no joy in any of this. Not for me, my son, our families or our friends,” said Chris Writer, Bart Writer’s wife. “Everything that happened was completely preventable.”

The game, outlined extensively during a deposition of Dr. Urban, involved playing music during the surgery and pairing the songs with the letters, “B” “I” “N” “G” and “O.”

“So, as an example, if the 70s group the Bee Gees were to sing a song, that would be the letter ‘B’,” said Dr. Urban.

In a civil suit filed against the surgeon who did the cataract surgery on Writer, the team either turned down or turned off the audible alarms that would have notified them that, for example, a patient’s blood oxygen level was dropping.

“I wanted an explanation,” said Chris Writer. “I wanted to know why is Bart not here.”

“I couldn’t let it go,” she added.

“Somebody should have cared before Bart Writer died. That’s the end of the story. That’s not the beginning. This wasn’t the first time they were playing music bingo while someone was anesthetized,” said attorney Dan Lipman who helped represent the Write family during civil litigation.

“This was one of the most egregious cases of medical malpractice I have seen,” he said.

9NEWS reached out to an attorney who represented Dr. Urban during civil litigation. We have not received a response as of Friday afternoon, but in previous correspondences the attorney told us, “Dr. Urban stands by his care and treatment of Mr. Writer.”

As for the criminal case, Chris Writer said it’s pushing her back to the day that she found out her husband had died.

“It’s just like taking that wound and ripping it open again. It’s just so painful. It’s so unfair. It never should have happened,” she said.

Full statement from Chris Writer:

The District Attorney’s indictment of Michael J. Urban on charges of criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter brings no joy to me, our son, our families, or Bart’s many friends. Instead, it reopens a profound and enduring grief over Bart’s loss. His death was completely preventable. What deepens our sorrow further is the knowledge that the very people entrusted with his care were ultimately responsible for his death.

Bart did not die because of a simple medical error or an unavoidable mistake. His death was the result of gross negligence. Dr. Urban’s reckless conduct, including disabling alarms, engaging in distracting activities such as music bingo, and reportedly turning off anesthesia monitoring equipment after the procedure and deleting critical data, demonstrates a blatant disregard for Bart’s life. These actions raise deeply troubling questions. How long had this behavior been occurring? Why did no one intervene, report it, or stop it? I find it hard to believe that Bart was the first patient placed at risk by, in my opinion, a distracted, disengaged, and callous Dr. Urban in that ambulatory surgery center or in any operating room where he practiced.

Based on everything I have experienced since Bart’s death, I fear that even if someone had spoken up, little would have been done. Despite my repeated efforts to alert both the Colorado and Oregon medical boards, Dr. Urban’s license was never suspended. In Colorado, the case remains open, and his license is only subject to a so called “voluntary cessation of practice,” an agreement made after he had already moved to Oregon and resumed practicing there. Three years have passed with no meaningful action from either state’s medical board. That is shameful.

I once believed medical boards existed to ensure patient safety. Sadly, my experience has shown otherwise. Too often, these boards function as doctors policing doctors, with little independent oversight. The result is a system that fails the very people it is meant to protect. We must do better. Independent board members must be appointed in sufficient numbers so their voices and votes really matter. This is only one of many urgently needed reforms.

Bart’s death was devastating, but what followed compounded that devastation. At the lowest point of my life, while struggling simply to survive the grief, I learned that it would fall to me to uncover the truth and pursue accountability. I was fortunate not to face that burden alone. My brother Ed, our families, our friends, and our legal team stood by me every step of the way. I am forever grateful for their unwavering support.

Even with resources and determination, finding answers required extraordinary effort. Most families in similar situations do not have that ability. Too often, they are told there is nothing to be done, that it was merely a “terrible error.” That is unacceptable. Families should not have to investigate on their own while enduring unimaginable loss. Our systems should prioritize transparency, accountability, and truth, not protect those who fail their patients.

Medical harm and error are now recognized by multiple studies as the third leading cause of death in the United States. Many of these deaths go unreported, fueled in part, by a culture in which healthcare professionals fear retaliation for reporting negligent colleagues. Culture is just one factor. Many others are at play and we must address each and every one to be successful.  The healthcare system has a moral and professional obligation to build safeguards that prevent tragedies like Bart’s from happening again. We can and must do better. Patients and families deserve better.

Please do not mistake my words as an indictment of healthcare as a whole. I deeply respect and appreciate the countless dedicated healthcare professionals who save lives every day. My criticism is directed at the regulatory agencies that failed in their duty to uphold safety and accountability, including the medical boards of Colorado and Oregon, DORA, the coroner’s office, and the National Provider Database, whose lack of transparency leaves patients unaware of problematic providers.

We can and must do better. For Bart. For every patient. For every family who places their trust in our healthcare system.