Doctor Off Duty Volume 6, Issue 2
PHYSICIAN AGREES TO PERMANENT LIMITATION ON SCOPE OF PRACTICE In a Final Agreement and Consent Order of Limitation of Medical Practice entered on March 23, 2017, an obstetrician/gynecologist voluntarily agreed to cease and desist from all involvement in labor and delivery of any patient. As set forth in the Final Agreement, under the terms of an Interim Agreement and Consent Order of Temporary Limitation on Medical Practice, entered on February 24, 2017 following a January 27, 2017 appearance before the Medical Practitioner Review Panel, the physician agreed to cease and desist from these procedures pending the completion of a Board-approved program and certification in electronic fetal monitoring. Following consultation with counsel, the physician agreed, in lieu of taking the required course and obtaining certification, to permanently cease all involvement in labor and delivery of any patient. The Final Agreement explicitly states the physician was neither admitting nor denying any professional negligence, but would agree to so limit his practice unless and until he seeks approval from the Board to resume performing labor and delivery procedures.
IN OTHER NEWS…PHYSICIAN’S LICENSE AUTOMATICALLY SUSPENDED UPON RELAPSE INTO SUBSTANCE ABUSE Underan Order of Automatic Suspension issued on March 9, 2017, a physician who relapsed into substance abuse had his license suspended. According to the Order, the physician has a long history of substance abuse dating back to 1997, when he entered into the Alternative Resolution Program (“ARP”). He participated in the ARP and demonstrated a five-year period of sobriety from 1999 to 2004, but relapsed into abuse of alcohol and opiates in 2007. He was permitted to re-enter ARP, subject to a rigorous monitoring program, remaining compliant until 2011. On June 13, 2012, the physician’s license was suspended following an arrest for driving while intoxicated, specifically for inhaling a dust cleaner. On May 26, 2016, the physician’s license was conditionally reinstated under the terms of a Consent Order, which also required his participation in the Physician Assistance Program (“PAP”). On March 7, 2017, the physician reported to the PAP that he had suffered a relapse into the abuse of aerosol inhalants, and his license was automatically suspended two days later under a provision in the Consent Order.
PHYSICIAN CONSENTS TO LICENSE SUSPENSION FOR ALLEGED INDISCRIMINATE PRESCRIBING OF CDS By means of a Final Consent Order dated January 20, 2017, a physician agreed to a voluntary suspension of his license to practice. On November 14, 2016, the Attorney General filed an Order to Show Cause and Verified Complaint against the physician, alleging he had engaged in the indiscriminate prescribing of CDS in violation of Board statutes and regulations, and that the physician’s continued practice of medicine constituted an imminent threat of harm to the public. Over the objection of the Attorney General, the Board and the physician agreed to a Consent Order suspending his license for a period of five (5) years, with the first two (2) years to be served as a period of active suspension. Six months prior to the expiration of the two year period of active suspension the physician may apply to the Board to enter into a stayed period of suspension, which application will be decided in the Board’s sole discretion, provided the physician appears before a Committee of the Board and demonstrates his compliance with the terms of the Consent Order and his fitness to resume practice.