LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Danielle Rose can measure her life in pill bottles. It's a far cry from just a few years ago when she was training to compete in a fitness competition. Now, she struggles to walk down stairs.
"I'm just not the same person. Right now, I'm stuck like this. This is my life. I've lost everything."
She lost her job at the Wynn/Encore after 20 years and lost her health insurance.
"Had to get private insurance, disability. I'm in constant pain all the time."
It began in the Spring of 2021 when debilitating migraines, vision disturbances and inability to sleep led her to seek neurological care.
"I get the MRI and not even 24 hours later, the primary doctor is calling me on the phone saying, 'We have an issue. You have lesions on the brain'."
In February 2022, she finally learned exactly what it was.
A doctor told her, "You have something called a pineal tumor in your brain. It was shocking to hear!"
According to the Cleveland Clinic, pineal tumors aren't always cancer, but they still cause problems as they grow. Surgical removal is difficult due to its location in the middle of your brain and because of that, it's not a common treatment. However, it's the treatment Rose sought.
"I said I want the damn thing out of my head. I want it out! There was no question."
Neurosurgeon Dr. John Anson of The Spine and Brain Institute performed the procedure on April 12, 2022 at Southern Hills Hospital, where he's currently Chief of Staff.
In Rose's surgical report, Anson wrote, "I carefully dissected it free... We continued until no further identifiable tumor appeared to be left."
"It was a four-hour-long surgery," Danielle explained. "I have titanium mesh and screws that were put in my head."
Rose later learned it was a benign grade one tumor. But as time passed and she wasn't improving, she returned to Dr. Anson.
"I told him, I'm still not feeling any better. I'm not sleeping well. My headaches are bad. Things haven't changed. He said it takes time. You just gotta give it time."
Three months after surgery, an MRI showed a 13-millimeter pineal lesion, only "Slightly smaller than the (15-millimeter pre-surgery mass)... With a similar effect on the brain."
At first, Rose thought the tumor had come back. But in October 2023, when she sought care from a team of specialists at USC's Keck School of Medicine, a neurologist there delivered shocking news.
"I learned that the tumor is still in my brain. It was not removed."
According to medical records from Keck, it was only biopsied; something Rose says Dr. Anson never told her.
More than a year after her surgery, she met with Dr. Anson again, this time, bringing a family member and audio recording the visit on her cell phone.
Dr. Anson: MRI is stable. Looks fine. The little residual is there but it's not changing. There's no obstruction.
Rose's family member: So there's nothing at all anymore?
Dr. Anson: No. There is, but it's stable—the little bit of residual.
Rose: Oh!
Family member: What do you mean? I thought it was removed completely.
Dr. Anson: We did not get it all out. The part that was anterior that was really stuck to the back of the brain stem—it was a little too dangerous to remove.
As for her continued health issues, Anson tells her, "I don't think it's the cause of these other ongoing symptoms."
They ask him what percentage of the tumor is left and he responds, "30%. Something like that."
Rose's MRIs indicate more than 80% of the tumor remains in her brain.
Anson tells them it was safer not to try to remove the entire tumor once they learned it was a benign grade one. But remember. That's not what he wrote in the surgical report and it's not what he billed Rose's insurance for.
Her records show Dr. Anson charged Health Plan of Nevada $30,323 for removing the tumor—a procedure HPN found he did not perform. In a letter from May of this year, following Rose's complaint, the Nevada Division of Insurance confirms "Medical records do not support the previous services billed by the provider."
HPN required Dr. Anson to resubmit the claim with a corrected bill. The state also says, "It does appear that they (HPN) may take further action against the provider..." but that is "confidential and will not be disclosed."
Although she says, "I wanted to leap out and go ballistic," Rose has not confronted Dr. Anson about the discrepancy between what he wrote in the surgical report and billed for versus what actually happened during surgery.
"I stayed quiet because in the back of my mind I thought, okay, I need to get a lawyer."
However, those efforts have failed. Multiple lawyers have told her although it seems she has a legitimate claim, the statute of limitations has run out. Aside from the Nevada Division of Insurance, other attempts at seeking accountability have fallen flat.
"I filed a complaint with Southern Hills Hospital. Their response to me was, 'Sorry for the miscommunication'."
In November 2023, Southern Hills also apologized that, "Her care did not meet her expectation." Then, the hospital closed its investigation.
"Nobody wants to take responsibility!" Rose exclaimed.
The Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners also closed Rose's case, telling her they "Still may address the issue but those actions are not a matter of public record."
13 Investigates reached out to Dr. Anson for comment via phone, email and text. More than a week passed and we heard nothing, until we told Southern Hills Hospital that he wasn't responding to us. Then, he reached out and agreed to an on-camera interview.
We agreed to hold this story to accommodate his schedule, but two days before the interview was supposed to happen, Anson backed out.
He did speak to me on the phone, however, saying what he wrote in his surgical report is what he thought happened at the time. He thought he'd gotten it all out and was surprised there was so much of the tumor left. Even so, he says, "The bottom line is that the tumor was benign, so there would have been no reason to be more aggressive in such a sensitive area of the brain."
He also believes he told Rose all of that during her three-month post op visit, saying, "Maybe it's on me that she didn't understand my explanation or did not remember it. I always make an effort to explain conditions to patients in a detailed and comprehensive manner but sometimes confusion still remains."
I asked why he didn't say anything about a previous discussion during the visit Rose recorded more than year after surgery, when she was clearly surprised that any tumor was left. He didn't have an answer other than to keep saying he knows he discussed it with her previously.
As for the insurance claiming he billed for a procedure he didn't perform, Anson blamed that on HPN's "incorrect interpretation" of billing codes, which he says his billing service is now working to correct.
Though the state medical board did not take action in Rose's case, Dr. Anson has been disciplined in the past. In 2014, the board charged Anson with malpractice twice.
In one case, state records show a 10-year-old child became quadriplegic and later died after Anson nearly severed her spinal cord during surgery. Anson told 13 investigates, "That was the most painful thing that's ever happened to me in my career."
The second case involved a 60-year-old patient who state records show was discharged from the hospital while suffering severe surgical complications, resulting in more surgery and a much longer recovery.
In both cases, the board allowed Anson to settle the malpractice charges by reimbursing their investigative costs, doing 20 hours of continuing medical education, and making a $3,500 contribution to a non-profit medical organization of his choice.
Anson was also sued by both patients' families. Both cases were settled out of court.
As for Rose, "I'm just going to continue to go to USC every three months to the headache specialist, do what they can to try to help me with these headaches, and just try to function on a daily basis and try to live my life."
Rose's records from USC show she is not a candidate for another surgery or for radiation. She is continuing to fight for accountability and the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners is reviewing her complaint.
Southern Hills Hospital said it was unable to discuss individual patient care, but affirmed Dr. Anson's integrity, saying he is highly respected and upholds the highest standards of professionalism.
