A Houston-area emergency room physician has had his medical license temporarily suspended following a series of disturbing arrests this year involving intoxication, violence, and threats against law enforcement, according to the Texas Medical Board.
Dr. Derrick Anthony Mitchell, who most recently practiced at St. Luke’s Health Woodland Hospital — though the facility says he hasn’t worked there since January — was arrested at least six times in 2026 alone. The Board’s disciplinary panel voted on June 5 to suspend his license without prior notice, determining that allowing him to continue practicing medicine would pose a direct threat to public safety.
The first incident occurred on February 1 in Montgomery County, when Mitchell was found in possession of 77 grams of THC gummies while reportedly hallucinating and expressing suicidal thoughts. He was later convicted on the drug charge in April.
Just over a month later, on March 9, deputies responded to a domestic disturbance at a Spring apartment complex. Authorities say Mitchell was intoxicated and had made suicidal statements to his fiancée. While receiving treatment at a hospital, he allegedly spit on a deputy and claimed to have infected him with a sexually transmitted disease. That charge was eventually dropped.
Less than two weeks later, on March 22, officers were called back to the same complex after Mitchell allegedly tried to force his way into an ex-girlfriend’s apartment and damaged a vehicle belonging to her brother. The same month, he was also accused of physically assaulting and choking another woman.
His sixth arrest came on May 2, when court records allege he shoved, punched, and slapped the mother of his child.
This isn’t Mitchell’s first brush with the law — he was convicted of DWI in 2007 and faced a deadly conduct charge in 2022, which was dismissed last year after he completed a deferred adjudication program.
The Texas Medical Board says a formal suspension hearing will be scheduled soon, and Mitchell’s license will remain suspended until further action is taken.
