Family Doctor Volume 5, Issue 3
PHYSICIAN DISCIPLINED FOR PRESCRIBING TO FAMILY AND STAFF WITHOUT ESTABLISHING PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP OR MEDICAL NECESSITY A physician agreed not to contest the charge that he was disciplined by the Connecticut Medical Examining Board based on inappropriate prescribing practices for prescribing injectable Dilaudid to a relative and staff member. The Board concluded that there was no established doctor-patient relationship on any of the seven occasions where he prescribed Dilaudid to his family member. The physician was also disciplined for his failure to document the prescriptions, related disorder or treatment plan for his relative. The Connecticut Board also found that the doctor prescribed injectable Dilaudid to a staff member on fourteen separate occasions. As with his family member, the physician similarly failed to document the prescriptions, the purported disorder being treated and/or the treatment plan. The physician’s conduct constitutes professional misconduct under the laws of the State of New York for practicing the profession with negligence on more than one occasion and failing to maintain a record for each patient which accurately reflects the evaluation of the patient. Based on the foregoing, the physician agreed to surrender his license in the State of New York.
IN OTHER NEWS…
PHYSICIAN’S LICENSE LIMITED FOR NEGLIGENCE ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION A physician did not contest the charge of having voluntarily surrendered his Connecticut State medical license to resolve a disciplinary action instituted by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The physician was charged with inappropriate physical conduct while providing primary care to a patient and inappropriately managing the patient’s treatment with certain medications. The physician was further alleged to have failed to appropriately manage the treatment of another patient’s diabetes, among other things. As a result, the physician’s New York State medical license is limited. The physician is precluded from practicing medicine in New York State or in any other setting where his practice of medicine is based solely on his New York State medical license. The physician’s New York State medical license is also limited precluding him from relying on his New York State medical license to exempt him from the licensing, certification or any other requirements set forth in statute or regulation for the practice of any other professions licensed, regulated or certified by the New York State Board of Regents, New York State Department of Education, New York State Department of Health and the New York State Department of State.
PHYSICIAN’S VIOLATION OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS REGARDING SUBOXONE LEADS TO CENSURE AND REPRIMAND A physician asserted that she could not successfully defend against the charge of having been disciplined by the Connecticut State Medical Examining Board for having violated Federal regulations addressing the documentation, dispensation and storage of Suboxone tablets. Based on the foregoing, the OPMC found that the physician’s conduct constituted negligence on more than one occasion and incompetence on more than one occasion. The physician was censured and reprimanded with a fine of $5,000.00 to be paid in full within 60 days of the effective date of the Order.
PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT’S PRESCRIBING OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF PRACTICE RESULTS IN CENSURE AND REPRIMAND A physician assistant agreed not to contest the charge of having prescribed medications beyond the authorized scope of the practice of her profession. The OPMC Censured and Reprimanded the physician assistant who was issued a $5,000.00 fine and given five years of probation. During the period of probation the physician assistant may only practice medicine when her practice is being supervised by a licensed physician located onsite and she is being monitored by healthcare professionals.
PHYSICIAN DISCIPLINED FOR FAILURE TO SUPERVISE ADVANCE PRACTICE NURSE A Texas physician did not contest the charge of having been disciplined by the Texas State Medical Board for failing to exercise appropriate supervision over an advanced practice nurse (“APN”). The Texas Board found that the physician failed to supervise an APN who owned and operated a pain management clinic. The physician was required to be the APN’s supervising physician at the clinic. However, the Texas Board discovered that the physician had no written protocol in place and did not adequately supervise any of the employees under the physician’s direction at the clinic, including the APN. As the above findings constitute professional misconduct in the State of New York, the OPMC issued a censure and reprimand and fined the physician $1,000.00.