TN Health Dept. refuses to pursue case against man who claimed to be a 'doctor'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) – Women thought he was a doctor who would treat their infertility problems to have children.

However, a NewsChannel 5 investigation revealed that he was not a doctor; in fact, he was not licensed to practice medicine.

But the Tennessee Department of Health has decided not to take any kind of enforcement action against the self-proclaimed doctor, saying they didn’t have enough evidence that what he did was illegal.

Now former patients like Lauren Miller are confused and angry.

When Miller was trying to get pregnant last year, she had three separate dates with Farere Dyer.

“When he walked into the room, he said, ‘Hey, I’m Dr. Dyer,’ and then he sat down on one of those little wheelchairs,” Miller said.

And she wasn’t the only one.

When we met with former patients of the now-closed Center for Reproductive Health this summer, we asked the room full of women, “Okay, first question. How many of you, by show of hands, were patients of Farere Dyer?”

Hands then shot up.

Bethann Daugherty was one of the women at that meeting.

“He introduced himself as Dr. Dyer and everyone in the clinic called him Dr. Dyer,” Daugherty said.

Dyer worked at the Center for Reproductive Health for four years.

But after the Nashville fertility clinic abruptly closed last April, our investigation first revealed that Dyer was not a doctor or any other licensed medical professional.

“I really felt like I had been betrayed,” Miller said, recalling how she felt after seeing our initial report.

She said she immediately filed a complaint with the Tennessee Department of Health, as did many of Dyer’s other patients.

“Has anyone from the health department ever contacted you? Did you call to ask what Farere Dyer did to you (after you filed your complaint)?’ we asked Molenaar.

“No,” she told us.

But six months later, the Department of Health just sent a form letter to women who filed complaints, saying that the investigation found that “there was not sufficient evidence to conclude that Farere Dyer was practicing medicine in Tennessee without a license.”

The Tennessee Department of Health further explained in that letter that it had decided to “close (the investigation) without further action” against Dyer.

“I didn’t understand how that was even possible,” Miller said.

Patients like Miller cannot believe the Tennessee Department of Health’s findings because Farere Dyer does not have and never has had a Tennessee medical license, according to the Health Department’s online search portal.

And according to the patients’ medical records, he was their “doctor.”

“To me it seems pretty black and white. You (Dyer) treated us, at least me specifically. You (Dyer) treated me. So how can you (the health department) say you (the health department) didn’t? “Didn’t you discover he was treating patients without a license?” Miller wondered.

But the Tennessee Department of Health defended its decision by citing the Tennessee Medical Board’s policy that allows doctors with medical licenses in Tennessee to delegate certain services to employees who are not licensed physicians.

That policy also stated that the delegated tasks must be “routine, technical services,” things like “taking vital signs, history taking, assisting with minor procedures, and answering patient phone calls.”

“If you take us into a room and you discuss our results with us and say, ‘Okay, this is what’s happening here, and this is how I’m going to help you treat this’ (as Miller suggested Dyer did), that is a whole different level of practice for me,” Miller said.

Dyer also performed intrauterine inseminations on women and even more complex procedures, according to the medical records of other patients.

We previously asked Sarah Davis, another former patient of Dyer, about her experiences.

“How many IUIs have you had there?”

“Two,” she replied.

“And who carried them out?” we asked.

“They were both Dr. Dyer,” Davis told us.

Another former patient, Mary Schacher, described another experience to us, which included being put to sleep.

“Dr. Dyer ‘slept’ me for my first IVF egg retrieval, so that in itself is invasive and all that, and putting in catheters and putting someone down.”

As we reported, the Davidson County District Attorney’s Office was considering criminal charges against Dyer for his actions, but sources tell us the reason charges were never filed was because the Tennessee Department of Health told DA Glenn Funk to drop the case traps.

“At what point is Dyer held accountable for what he did? Do you know the role of knowingly treating these patients without a license? Where does that responsibility lie?’ Molenaar asked.

Miller added that the Tennessee Department of State’s decision in the case sets a “very bad precedent,” and she wondered what would stop someone else from presenting themselves as a doctor as Dyer did.

Instagram headline only (53).png — Women told us they were in despair after realizing a now-defunct fertility clinic had abruptly left them without care. Some women were treated by a man who did not have a medical license.

“It kind of feels like he’s just getting off scot-free,” Miller said.

The Tennessee Department of Health declined our request for an interview, but its letter to patients states that Dyer’s actions were not his fault, but rather the fault of his boss, Dr. Jaime Vasquez, the medical director of the fertility clinic who delegated the duties to Dyer.

The department said the investigation into Dr. Vasquez continues.

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Metro Police: We have never had a case like this before.

Patients at the closed fertility clinic were shocked to learn that the man who treated them was not a licensed doctor