Texas Medical Board

The Texas Medical Board is an actual state funded agency. The Medical Board staff and the Medical Board Members are public servants.

Texas Medical Board staff members are equal to DPS employees, DHS employees and employees of Governor Abbott’s office. They all receive state money for their salary. These employees work for the general public of Texas. Being that Texas Medical Board staff members are employees of the state – EVERY ACTION OR INACTION TAKEN BY THE TEXAS MEDICAL BOARD IS A DIRECT REFLECTION OF GOVERNOR ABBOTT’s POLITICS.

Texas Medical Board members are similar to jurors, local city council, or the PTA at a public school. The only real difference is that board members are selected by Governor Abbott and not voted into office by the public. Unfortunately there are also not any limits to how long a Medical Board member can stay on the Medical Board. There are no special powers attached to being a member of the Texas Medical Board.

A easier way of looking at how the Medical Board functions is that the Medical Board staff are the people that decides what happens – the committee and board members are the public faces of the decision makers. Committee and Board members are supposed to be voting on what they feel is right – but that’s not how it works.

Why I have an interest in the Texas Medical Board

I submitted a legitimate complaint to the Texas Medical Board on my previous primary care provider Dr. Susan McMullen. The Medical Board originally dismissed my complaint because I wasn’t able to upload documents to attach to the complaint. There must be some kind of glitch in the website thats not taking the documents.

I appealed the TMB decision and added lots of documents for proof. See how many documents I have to support my complaint here. The Texas Medical Board said they dismissed my appeal due to “Lack of Evidence.” So what made me interested in the TMB is how they can dismiss valid medical complaints from the general public – when proof has been provided.

I have come to learn that the Texas Medical Board has never even seen my complaint on Dr. McMullen. The “Texas Medical Board District Review Committees” and “Medical Board staff members” actually pick through all of the complaints received and only select a tiny percentage of whats actually received to show to the Medical Board.

From what I can tell so far – it looks like complaints from the general public are automatically dismissed. To actually be seen by the medical board – the complaint needs to come from a pharmacy, medical professionals, medical facilities and maybe news stations. They have attorneys look through everything to find out which people are important enough to listen to.

Its ok. Perhaps the problem with Dr. McMullen is the current Medical Board. Maybe My doctor would have done a better job treating me IF the Medical Board had done better to enforce proper medical treatment. Since the Texas Medical Board doesn’t see where they have problems – I’m going to go through and point out every issue that I see.

Even IF there are no changes – I would be happy just knowing that the Texas Medical Board knows that all of those complaints from the general public – those complaints are just as important as complaints from those other places.

Current Texas Medical Board Members

  • Dr. Sherif Z. Zaafran, M.D. * Texas Medical Board President * Anesthesiologist *
  • Dr. Kandace B. Farmer, D.O. * Texas Medical Board Vice President * Oncologist *
  • Michael E. Cokinos * Secretary / Treasurer * NOT a doctor * Founder and President of Cokinos Energy Corporation
  • Sharon J. Barnes * NOT a doctor * Chief Human Resources Officer for the San José Clinic in Houston
  • Devinder S. Bhatia, M.D. * Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon * Dr. Bhatia has his very own disciplinary history with the Texas Medical Board.
  • Garry D. Crain * NOT a doctor * Retired health care administrator
  • George L. De Loach, D.O., P.A. * Orthopedic Surgeon *
  • James S. Distefano, D.O. * Sports and Emergency Medicine *
  • Mary “Kelly” Green, M.D. * Ophthalmologist *
  • Tomeka Moses Herod * NOT a doctor * President of The Wilkins Group, Inc.
  • Zachary S. Jones, M.D. * Anesthesiologist *
  • Robert D. Martinez, M.D. * Internal Medicine *
  • LuAnn Morgan * NOT a doctor * Retired electric company employee
  • Jayaram B. Naidu, M.D. * Primary Care and Researcher *
  • Manuel M. Quiñones, Jr., M.D. * Family Practice *
  • Luisa del Rosal * NOT a doctor * Owner of EverLine Coatings
  • Jason K. Tibbels, M.D. * Clinical, Hospice, and Telemedicine *
  • Linda Troncoso * NOT a doctor * President of TRE and Associates, LLC. 
  • David G. Vanderweide, M.D. * Orthopedic Surgeon *

Texas Medical Board District Review Committees By District

These 4 district Review Committees are supposed to be focused on their districts. They are NOT medical board members, but they still hold a public office. Each committee member is selected by the Texas Governor for a 7 year term.

The TMB website says they are supposed to advise and make recommendations to the board. ” Evaluate medical practice and professional competencies and make recommendations on investigations conducted by the Board.” Sure sounds like these are the people that determine which medical complaints are actually seen by the board and say the rest are trash. I’m seeing a pattern of complaints getting through to the board for action and seems like all of the complaints from the general public or patients get dismissed. From what I have seen so far; only complaints from medical facilities, pharmacies and healthcare providers are the only complaints being heard by the board.

District 1 Review Committee Members

There are supposed to be 7 members of District 1 Review Committee, but this district is missing a member. This committee is missing a doctor.

  • Imran A. Dar, M.D. * Cardiologist *
  • David D. Davila, D.O. * General and Cosmetic Surgeon *
  • Mark L. Hobson * NOT a doctor * Retired furniture employee
  • Sheela L. Lahoti, M.D. * Pediatrics *
  • Kimberly R. Phillips, J.D. * NOT a doctor * General Counsel for Global Litigation at Shell Oil Company
  • Laurel E.P. Simmons * NOT a doctor * Assistant professor University of Houston Law Center

District 2 Review Committee Members

  • Lewis J. Benavides * NOT a doctor *
  • Kristen L. Cox * NOT a doctor * CEO of Checkpoint Services, Inc. BIG RED FLAG on this member of the Review Committee. Checkpoint Services is listed as vendor ID #1742775490200 on the State of Texas .gov site. She probably shouldn’t be serving on this committee. Seems like it shouldn’t be allowed.
  • Angela A. Downes, J.D. * NOT a doctor * Law Professor at The University of Texas – Dallas College of Law.
  • Penelope Duke Miggins, M.D. * Anesthesiologist *
  • Tejas V. Ozarkar, M.D. * Physiatrist *
  • Ivan D. Rovner, M.D. * Obstetrician-Gynecologist *
  • Robert B. Simonson, D.O. * Emergency Medicine

District 3 Review Committee Members

  • Ogechika K. “Oge” Alozie, M.D. * Administrative Medicine *
  • Sharon Carr * NOT a doctor * Retired Director of Hemphill County Juvenile Bootcamp
  • Mark Edwards, M.D. * Urgent Care – Family Practice *
  • Taylor A. Gillig * NOT a doctor * Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of The Cookery. He is also a Marine Veteran.
  • Mindi L. McLain * NOT a doctor * An Attorney with Wright Law TX, PLLC
  • Gabrielle H. Rich, D.O. * Obstetrician-Gynecologist *
  • Surendra L. Varma, M.D. * Pediatrics *

District 4 Review Committee Members

  • David Lindzey, M.D. * Internal Medicine *
  • Bobby W. Marek, M.D., FACP * Internist *
  • John C. “Chris” Putnam, Ph.D. * NOT a doctor * Marriage and family therapist associate at HiveZen Family Therapy
  • Shirlene J. Samuel, D.O. * Pediatrics *
  • Ruth Villarreal * NOT a doctor * Owner of Ruth Villarreal Insurance Agency a Farmers Insurance Dealer
  • Andrew J. “Jimmy” Widmer, M.D. * Internal Medicine *
  • Glena W. Yates * NOT a doctor * former president of the Central Texas Land Titles, Inc.

Actions Taken By The Texas Medical Board

  • March 27, 2026 – The Texas Medical Board DISMISSED the complaints on Dr. James Landero. Apparently the Medical Board are not aware of Texas Laws that were created to protect the elderly population.
  • Medical Board Member Mary “Kelly” Green, M.D. the (Ophthalmologist) started the “Motion to Dismiss”. Her motion to dismiss was supported by Manuel M. Quiñones, Jr., M.D. (Family Practice), David G. Vanderweide, M.D. (Orthopedic Surgeon), Robert D. Martinez, M.D. (Internal Medicine).
  • Very disturbing to know that an Ophthalmologist, Family Practice doctor, Orthopedic Surgeon and Internal Medicine doctor don’t know how to protect their elderly patients. In all fairness there were a total of 17 Medical Board members present during this meeting. Only 4 of the 17 members voted to dismiss the complaint. The remaining 13 Board Members chose to stay silent. Too bad they didn’t speak up to educate their co board members on Texas Laws.
  • March 27, 2026 – The Texas Medical Board SUSPENDED an Army Veteran’s Texas Medical License for absolutely nothing. Dr. Luckey Connor Reed is currently practicing medicine in California, but he cant practice in Texas because the Texas Medical Board Members are hypocrites.
  • Medical Board Member Dr. Kandace B. Farmer, D.O. (Oncologist) started the motion to approve the suggested license suspension plan that was put together by the Medical Board Staff members. She did it in a really weird way to, like she was reading off what she was supposed to say instead of something that she came up with.
  • Medical Board Members that supported Dr. Farmer’s motion include: Luisa del Rosal (Owner of EverLine Coatings), David G. Vanderweide, M.D. (Orthopedic Surgeon), Manuel M. Quiñones, Jr., M.D. (Family Practice), George L. De Loach, D.O., P.A. (Orthopedic Surgeon), Linda Troncoso (President of TRE and Associates, LLC), Garry D. Crain (Retired Health Care Administrator), Jayaram B. Naidu, M.D. (Primary Care and Researcher).
  • There were 17 Board Members present during this board meeting. 8 board members supported the decision to leave Dr. Reed’s Texas Medical License suspended for an undetermined amount of time. Sharon J. Barnes (Chief Human Resources Officer for the San José Clinic in Houston) was the only medical board member that stood up and rejected the motion. The remaining 8 board members chose not to participate and remained silent in the Dr. Reed Vote.