Army Doctor Convicted In Death of Fairfax Girl
Captain Guilty of Dereliction of Duty
By William Booth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 14, 2001; Page A06

A former anesthesiologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been found guilty in military court of dereliction of duty and lying about his treatment of a teenage girl who died after routine surgery at the hospital.

At a unique court-martial at Fort Lewis in Washington state, the military judge yesterday ordered that Capt. Michael G. Hamner be dismissed from the service, but he did not sentence Hamner to serve time in prison.

After pleading guilty last week to making false statements and being convicted on Wednesday of dereliction of duty, Hamner had been facing a maximum sentence of 26 years in prison.

On a final charge, the military judge, Col. Theodore Dixon, found that Hamner was not guilty of negligent homicide in the 1998 death of Katie Tyra, the 16-year-old daughter of a retired Marine Corps colonel.

The case has stirred considerable rancor between Marine and Army brass, with accusations of incompetence and cover-ups, and has directed an unflattering light on an elite Army medical establishment.

Katie, a sophomore at Hayfield Secondary School in Fairfax County, went to Walter Reed hospital in Northwest Washington for a relatively simple operation to remove a benign cyst from her neck.

Hamner admitted in court 10 days ago that he repeatedly lied when he told his superiors and fellow physicians how much of a powerful antibiotic he had administered to the girl and how fast. Hamner said that he lied because he knew that he had given the drug the wrong way and that he feared confessing his mistake at the time could expose him to charges of malpractice or could cost him his residency at Walter Reed, a military hospital that cares for American presidents.

Soon after the injection by Hamner, Katie began to have serious heart and circulatory complications. Physicians at Walter Reed repeatedly tried to revive her, and they specifically asked Hamner how he had administered the antibiotic. Katie was then transferred to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where she died 13 days later without regaining consciousness.

Her parents, retired Marine Corps Col. William Tyra and his wife, Barbara, have insisted that doctors and supervisors at Walter Reed could have investigated the Hamner case more forcefully, and that Army and hospital officials were attempting to "whitewash" the affair.

In a statement issued after the sentencing by their attorney Charles Allen, the Tyras said they hope that "no military family will have to strain, struggle and suffer as they did in order to learn what medical care was actually provided to a family member at a military medical facility."

The Tyras said they believe the conviction will expedite an investigation into what happened at Walter Reed during and after the surgery. The family is also pursuing a civil lawsuit against the hospital.

Hamner appeared relieved that he would not be sent to prison. Earlier in the day, he apologized in court to the Tyras, his fellow doctors and his own family for his actions. "No one wants a punitive discharge on his record, but this means he can go home with his wife," said Hamner's civilian attorney, Frank Spinner.

Hamner will leave the service, Spinner said, "and he's going to go home and figure out what to do with the rest of his life."

Hamner could face possible action by medical licensing boards after his convictions for lying and dereliction of duty, though he may continue to practice medicine.

The military tribunal's sentence will now be forwarded to Lt. Gen. James Hill, the commander at Fort Lewis, for review. Hill may lessen the punishment, but he may not increase it.

Special correspondent Helen Jung contributed to this report from Fort Lewis.