About Richard Vazquez MD FACS
The Author at a Glance
Richard Vazquez MD FACS is a surgeon, educator, and author with more than fifty years in the operating room and medical classrooms. His career has been defined by the pursuit of surgical excellence and a relentless drive to improve patient safety.
Drawing on real medical–legal cases, Dr. Vazquez writes fiction that reveals the hidden human dramas where medicine and law intersect. His debut novel, Damage$ Inside Moves – Mommy, Mommy Wake Up, transforms legal inside moves before and during a trial and surgical missteps into a high-stakes thriller inspired by true events.
Chicago Was My Kind of Town
Where I was born, bred, educated, and trained as a surgeon
About the Author
Richard Vazquez, MD, FACS is a surgeon, educator, and author who has dedicated more than fifty years to advancing surgical practice and patient safety. His career spans the operating room, medical classrooms, and innovation in healthcare systems.
Early in his career, Dr. Vazquez served with the Illinois State Police as its Chief Medical Officer of the Emergency Medical Response System. He co-founded the EMRS unit with Jeremy Margolis, JD, Chief of the ISP — possibly the first instance of telemedicine in the United States. His leadership experience with the ISP carried forward into his surgical and academic work, where attention to detail and accountability became central to his practice.
He later transitioned into academic surgery and now serves as an Affiliated Services Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and an Emeritus Attending Surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Over decades, he trained countless young physicians while championing safer operating room design and practices.
Dr. Vazquez also holds several U.S. patents, has consulted widely on surgical safety, and has served as an expert witness in complex medical–legal cases. These real-world experiences now inform his writing. His debut novel, Damage$ Inside Moves – Mommy, Mommy Wake Up, draws directly from courtroom maneuvers and surgical missteps, revealing how lives are reshaped when medicine and law collide.
Today, he is the founder and CEO/CMO of SafeStart Medical, Inc., a platform designed to improve patient outcomes by preventing surgical “never events.” He continues to write, teach, and consult, bringing together medicine, law, and human drama in both professional and creative arenas.
When he’s not writing or teaching, Richard advocates for safer surgical practices through SafeStart Medical and contributes to professional societies. He lives in Spring Hill, Tennessee, near Nashville, where he balances his time between writing, mentoring, and family.
Awards
Illinois State Police Special Award 1987
In recognition and appreciation for your dedication and valuable contributions as Chief Medical Officer of the Illinois State Police Medical Response System. Your assistance and guidance during emergency and non-emergency situations has made a difference in the lives of many ISP employees.
Award of Merit Illinois State Police
In recognition of the dedication and professionalism displayed during the critical care and recovery of Illinois State Police Trooper Dennis M. Galle
Governor's Award for Achievement
In Recognition of Professionalism in the management of the Illinois State Police Emergency Medical Response System
Richard Vazquez MD
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
- Ben Franklin
Follow Richard Vazquez MD on LinkedIn
See my posts, documents, and Newsletters on LinkedIn and our SafeStart Medical website at
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Books
New Release
Damage$ Inside Moves Book One – Mommy Mommy Wake Up
A young mother goes in for routine surgery and never comes home. What should have been a simple malpractice case explodes into a multimillion-dollar verdict — and exposes the hidden maneuvers, courtroom strategies, and ethical failures that reshape lives forever. Inspired by true events, this medical–legal thriller reveals how high the stakes rise when medicine and law collide.
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Coming in 2026
Damage$ Inside Moves -- Book Two As Clips Give Way-Life is in Play
A young mother donated a kidney to her 7 year old son. The donor kidney harvest proceeded without problems. In an adjacent operating room kidney implantation into her son the mother went recovery. abdomen. Due to patient transportation confusion the surgical floor receiving nurses were unaware of the mothers presence A patient care techncian found the patient pulseless and blue. Surgeons immediately reoperated on the mother and easily corrected the cause of her abdominal hemorrhage. The patient languished and had multiple complications. A surgical product defect partially explained her near death experience and sweetened the pie for her attorneys.
