NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Stunning new allegations against the Nashville fertility clinic being sued by the Tennessee Attorney General.
As we have reported, the Center for Reproductive Health abruptly shut its doors last month after failing to pay its employees.
Now, another bombshell.
The sudden closure of the clinic left patients with a lot of questions. What would they do about their care going forward? And what would happen to the embryos that were stored at the clinic?
Here's another one: Why did the man who treated so many of these women hold himself out to be a doctor when he is not?
Sarah Davis and her husband share their home in Old Hickory with five rescue cats. They love their fur babies, but what they really long for is a real baby.
"How long have you been trying?" we asked Davis.
"Two and a half years," she replied.
And that dream to be parents is what led the couple to the Center for Reproductive Health last fall.
Until recently, the Midtown fertility clinic boasted of being "an innovator in IVF, infertility treatment, and genetic testing," and that it had "helped thousands of patients worldwide realize their dreams of starting a family."
It was founded in 1995 by Dr. Jaime Vasquez, who is still its medical director. But Davis's appointments were with someone else at the clinic, someone employees referred to as Dr. Dyer.
"What did they tell you about Dr. Dyer?" we wondered.
"Nothing but wonderful things," Davis said. "They said he was a fertility doctor."
But NewsChannel 5 Investigates has discovered that not only is Farere Dyer not a fertility doctor, but he's not even a licensed medical doctor.
"That is the only person that I ever saw," Davis said.
Davis said over the course of several months, Dr. Dyer analyzed her ultrasounds and lab work and came up with her treatment plan, including, she said, the fertility drugs she would take.
But remember in Tennessee to treat patients — to hold yourself out as a doctor — you must be licensed by the state medical board. Again, Dyer was not.
Yet he also performed procedures on Davis.
"How many IUIs did you have there?" we asked her.
"Two."
"And who performed them?" we continued.
"Both of them were Dr. Dyer," Davis said.
An IUI — or intrauterine insemination — is where the sperm is placed directly into a woman's uterus using a small catheter.
Davis and her husband paid thousands of dollars. Neither procedure worked. Now she questions it all.
"What we did not get it is a medical procedure done by a medical doctor. And nothing else matters. Because even if the parts and pieces were all there, it was not done by somebody who is licensed to do that," Davis stated.
It turns out, not only does Dyer not have a medical license, but we found degrees from the medical school he claims he graduated from in England in 2008, St. Christopher's College of Medicine, are not recognized or accepted for licensure in either Britain or many states in the U.S., including apparently Tennessee.
And Dr. Vasquez evidently knew all of this. In fact, his attorney told us Dyer "couldn't pass part" of the foreign medical student exam.
Yet, Vasquez still hired him and let him see patients.
The attorney insisted though that "Dr. Vasquez did not authorize him (Dyer) to tell patients he was a doctor."
Yet, we found Farere Dyer was repeatedly referred to as a doctor by Vasquez's clinic and his employees.
We found this post on social media where the Center congratulated Dr. Dyer for four years at the facility and another post wished Dr. Dyer a happy birthday.
"Dr. Dyer‘s name is checked that he performed the IUIs," Davis pointed out on some of her medical records.
These are the clinic's own forms. The ones used for both of Davis's procedures identified Dr. Dyer as the "physician" who performed the procedure. And in Davis's medical charts, Dyer's nurse wrote that she "would touch base with Dr. Dyer on any changes (to Davis's treatment) that he would deem necessary".
But Dyer's name is nowhere to be found on Davis's prescriptions.
"Everything says Dr. Vasquez, Jamie Vasquez MD," Davis explained.
"And how many times did you see Dr. Vasquez?" we asked.
"Never," she replied.
"Dr. Vasquez never saw you, treated you?" we persisted.
"No, absolutely not. Absolutely not," Davis said emphatically.
In the past, the Tennessee Medical Board has disciplined doctors for writing prescriptions for patients they have not seen.
Davis said she trusted that Dyer was a doctor and knew how to help her get pregnant.
"And he was like, 'This number plus this number means that you’re not ovulating at all,'" she recalled Dyer telling her.
But her faith in him changed after she decided to try another fertility clinic.
"And our new doctor, she was just like, 'I don’t know what he told you but none of this seems correct.' And she asked me his name and I told her and she said, 'OK but he’s not a reproductive endocrinologist.' And I said, Wait, what?!'" Davis said.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates has learned a majority of the patients who have contacted the AG's Office since the clinic closed reported that they'd seen Dr. Dyer and only Dr. Dyer.
And Davis is sure she's not the only patient who she says was fooled.
"I met a lot of people in the waiting room that were his patients and they all loved him," she said.
Davis hopes that by helping to expose what happened, patients of Dyer's who never got pregnant and may have given up will be encouraged to try again.
"Every single one of these women and every single one of these families who spent money with them, Vasquez and Dyer, should be paying them back — 100%," Davis suggested.
We made repeated attempts to speak with both Dyer and Vasquez.
Dyer originally agreed to sit down with us for an interview and then backed out.
Vasquez had his attorney talk with us.
And despite all of the overwhelming evidence, the attorney told us that patients should not have confused Dyer for a doctor, because she claimed, his white coat said "fellow" on it rather than "doctor."
Did this affect you?
If you were a patient or even an employee at the Center for Reproductive Health, investigators want to talk to you. They ask that you contact all three agencies.
The Metro Nashville Police Department has created a special email box where people can file complaints and share information about possible criminal activity involving the Center for Reproductive Health.
That email address is CRHcomplaint@nashville.gov. Those emails will go directly to the Special Victims Division of the police department.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sued Dr. Vasquez and the Center for Reproductive Health under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, seeking immediate relief to patients caused by Dr. Vasquez’s unexpected suspension of patient care and the sudden closure of his clinic. To file a complaint, you can complete a complaint form here[tn.gov] or you can call (615) 741-4737 or toll free inside Tennessee at (800) 342-8385.
And complaints about the unlicensed practice of medicine can be submitted to the Tennessee Department of Health through their website at https://www.tn.gov/health/health-program-areas/health-professional-boards/report-a-concern.html [tn.gov].
