The Medical Licensing Board agrees to dismiss the complaint against Carmel’s doctor

INDIANAPOLIS — A Carmel holistic doctor once accused of misconduct will not face disciplinary action, a state panel ruled Thursday.

The Indiana Board of Medical Licensing agreed to dismiss the state’s case against Dr. Clifford Fetters, a licensed physician and president of Health and Wellness in Carmel, which offers holistic cancer care.

Screenshot of the Health and Wellness website

As reported by WRTV Investigates, in May 2023 the state filed a 28-page complaint against Dr. Fetters presenting the problems of four patients identified as JH, JM, WS and W.ST.

In its complaint, the state said Fetters was “unfit to practice” and accused the doctor of false and misleading advertising, including promoting ozone therapy as a cancer treatment. The complaint alleged that Fetters failed to inform patients about the side effects of the tests and treatments.

A year and a half later, in November 2024, the Attorney General of Indiana The office filed a motion to dismiss his complaint against Fetter.

On Thursday, the Indiana Board of Medical Licensing heard the state’s request to drop the case.

“The state believes it does not have enough evidence to proceed with charges,” Deputy U.S. Attorney Cara Rochester told the panel. “The state has an ethical and professional responsibility to reject these allegations.”

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Members of the Indiana Board of Medical Licensing expressed concern.

“This case seemed to be, for lack of a better word, about putting patients down and giving them false hope,” said Dr. Kirk Masten, a board member.

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“These allegations are troubling,” said Dr. John Strobel, president of the board. “It appears that these patients and their families were in a pretty vulnerable position.”

Fetters did not appear at the meeting and was not required. His attorney, Bob Saint, explained that the patients fall under Indiana’s Right to Try statute, a law that allows terminally ill patients to try experimental treatments.

“It was clear that there was no misconduct, and in order to have a disciplinary action, a disciplinary complaint, you have to have a misconduct, and there just wasn’t,” Saint said. “You have to let them know that this is an experiment Dr. Fetters clearly made all these types of disclosures.”

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Saint said that when the state filed its complaint in May 2023, it did not have all medical records, including patient consent forms.

“The medical records show that when they came in, they weren’t being sold a bill of lading,” Saint said. “He even went so far as to say that most doctors in the country would not consider this to be an appropriate standard of care. He gave no guarantees, no assurances.”

Tim Hubbard’s wife, Julie, was a patient of Dr. Fetters.

PREVIOUS | The widower filed a complaint against the general practitioner

Contributed by Tim Hubbard

He says Julie was enthusiastic about taking supplements and losing weight as part of her treatment.

“I think she’s been torn mentally between the supplements and the pleasure the last few days,” Hubbard said. “It was torture to sit there and watch someone you love wither away and know there was nothing you could do about it.”

Julie Hubbard died on February 3, 2017 after a three-year battle with brain cancer.

In August 2017, Hubbard filed a complaint against Dr. Fetters with the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.

Cara Kenny

“I said, ‘Well, I’ve got to stop him,'” Hubbard said. “You can’t make promises to people that you know won’t come true and ruin people’s lives hoping it won’t happen.”

Hubbard showed WRTV Investigates receipts showing Julie spent more than $8,000 on doctor visits and nutritional supplements.

Deputy Attorney General Cara Rochester said they found no evidence that Fetters’ fees were unreasonable.

Hubbard wants Dr. Fetters to lose his license.

However, Fetters does not face any disciplinary action.

“We certainly understand that this is a difficult situation for families and the board to consider when considering the state’s proposal,” Rochester said. “If there is no violation, the state cannot take ethical actions. That’s where we are today.”

The Medical Licensing Board agreed to dismiss the state’s complaint.

Fetters’ attorney declined to be interviewed on camera after the hearing.

How to find information about your doctor

When you choose a doctor, you can enter his name in the field Indiana Licensing Litigation Portal.

It will show any complaints against their license and any disciplinary action taken by the Medical Licensing Board.

You can find more information at Indiana Patient Compensation Fund Public Database.

You can also verify your doctor’s license on the website of your state’s Professional Licensing Agency using their search tool.

In most cases, a doctor can continue to practice while the case is pending, unless the state proves that the doctor poses a clear and immediate danger to society.

You can contact WRTV Investigates Kara Kenney at [email protected] or 317-432-9704.