Three of the four contract doctors who review drivers' medical files have connections to Susan Stewart, who oversees the state Division of Motor Vehicles' Medical Review Branch:
Dr. Venkat L. Prasad is Stewart's personal physician. She said she hired him in 2005, roughly three years before he became her doctor. He has not given her any kind of break on her medical care as a result, she said.
Dr. Mamatha Ramaswamy is Prasad's wife. Stewart did not mention the connection in an initial interview but confirmed it in a second interview. She said Prasad suggested that Stewart hire his wife.
Dr. Roy Max Raynor Jr. is Stewart's optometrist; about three years ago, he hired her daughter-in-law, a former DMV employee, as a technician. Stewart said Raynor started reviewing records in 2002 and said the connections played no role in Raynor's keeping the work. She did not disclose the connections in an initial interview but confirmed them in a second interview.
As branch manager, Stewart was heavily involved in the recruiting and selection of the doctors, but she said her superiors were also involved.
It is unclear whether she disclosed the connections. She said she had disclosed that Prasad was her personal doctor. The DMV did not produce paperwork that would have shown that disclosure.
DMV Commissioner Mike Robertson said he was unaware of the connections, but he said he did not think there was any quid pro quo involved.
He said, for example, that Stewart's daughter-in-law responded to an employment advertisement to win her job.
The fourth contract doctor, Olushola J. Metiko, chief medical officer at Central Prison's regional hospital, was selected before Stewart became the DMV branch's manager.
