Licensing board lifts restrictions on Iowa surgeon facing four malpractice lawsuits

The Iowa Board of Medicine has lifted some of the restrictions imposed on an Iowa physician who is facing four malpractice lawsuits and who led police on a chase before being arrested for drunken driving in 2019.

According to court records, Dr. Nicholas J. Kuiper, a 42-year-old general surgeon who has practiced in Grinnell, Waterloo and Carroll, was arrested in November 2019 on a felony charge of eluding the police, plus first-offense drunken driving and criminal mischief.

Police records indicate Kuiper was driving his Hummer in Guthrie County the night of Nov. 15, 2019, when his vehicle left the roadway and crashed through a gate at a private residence in Panora. Kuiper allegedly drove through the homeowner’s yard and then sped away, leaving behind pieces of his vehicle.

Police reported they later found Kuiper on Highway 44, where he was sleeping inside his parked vehicle. The officer on the scense reported pounding on the window numerous times before Kuiper awoke, put the car in drive and sped off. With the police in pursuit, Kuiper reportedly veered into a ditch and then stopped. He was booked for drunken driving and, according to police reports, had a blood alcohol level of 0.201, more than double the legal limit for driving. He was later convicted drunken driving and criminal mischief, with the charge of eluding the police dismissed by the court.

Read more: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/01/14/licensing-board-lifts-restrictions-on-iowa-surgeon-facing-four-malpractice-lawsuits/