After five malpractice claims, Iowa doctor is charged with incompetence

An Iowa physician who has been sued at least five times for medical malpractice is now facing disciplinary charges of incompetence and unprofessional conduct.

The Iowa Board of Medicine has charged Dr. Michael J. Page of Polk County with professional incompetence for failure to exercise the degree of care ordinarily expected of physicians, and with unprofessional conduct and unethical conduct in the form of disruptive behavior as evidenced by a pattern of contentious, threatening, or intractable behavior that interferes with, or has the potential to interfere with, patient care.

The board has not publicly disclosed any of the alleged actions that led to the filing of the charges.

Case records indicate the board’s investigations into the two sets of charges were launched in 2016 and 2017. A hearing on the charges is currently scheduled for Jan. 22, 2026.

Court records show Page has been sued several times for medical malpractice.

In 2011, he was sued for malpractice by the estate of Christopher Hade. The case was settled out of court in 2014 with no indication as to whether a settlement was reached.

In 2013, Page and The Iowa Clinic were sued by John Clark of Dallas County, who alleged that Page was negligent in the surgical care he provided Clark. The case was later dismissed with no indication as to whether a settlement was reached.

In 2014, Page and the Iowa Clinic were sued for malpractice by Shannon Miller of Dallas County, whose attorneys alleged Page was negligent when he failed to remove her ovaries during an operation “whose very purpose was the removal of her ovaries,” and when he later failed to disclose that information to Miller and allowed cysts and tumors to develop on her ovaries. Court records indicate the case went to trial in 2017 and the jury found that while Page was negligent, that negligence was not the cause of damages suffered by Miller.

In 2016, Page and The Iowa Clinic were sued for malpractice by Joseph Tollari of Polk County, who alleged Page was negligent in that he failed to examine him or order a CAT scan before scheduling him for surgery. Those decisions, Tollari alleged, led to the removal of a large section of his colon, an intestinal leak that caused an infection, and additional surgeries. The case was later dismissed with no indication as to whether a settlement was reached.

In 2017, Page and the Iowa Digestive Disease Center were sued for malpractice by the estate of Jessica May Spidell of Polk County. According to the lawsuit, Spidell was admitted to a hospital on Dec. 14, 2016, and Page scheduled her for colorectal surgery that was to take place on Dec. 28, 2016. Spidell died on Dec. 28, 2016, of a perforated colon, and her estate alleged Page was negligent in not scheduling the surgery sooner or transferring the case to another surgeon. The case was later dismissed with no indication as to whether a settlement was reached.

Page, who is currently among the practitioners working at the Iowa Digestive Disease Center in Clive, did not immediately respond to calls from the Iowa Capital Dispatch on Monday. The center says Page joined the practice in June 2015, and that he is certified by the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery and American Board of Surgery.