The state Medical Examining Board Tuesday suspended the license of a Shelton doctor for two years and placed his license on probation for four years after accepting a hearing panel’s finding that his paranoid behavior is affecting his ability to safely practice medicine.

The first two years of the probation runs at the same time as the suspension, which will be followed by two years of probation, the board’s memorandum of decision states.

During the probation, Dr. Nami Bayan must see a therapist. After the suspension ends, Bayan will not be allowed to have a solo practice and must practice medicine in a setting with other physicians during the probation, the order said.

In July, the state Department of Public Health had ordered Bayan to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after he had sent emails to the department alleging “corruption and organized crime” in the U.S. medical system, law enforcement and DPH, the memo said. He also made anti-Semitic comments in emails, the memo said.

Dr. Arturo Morales, a Hartford psychiatrist, examined Bayan and testified at a hearing in January that Bayan was loud, threatening, overbearing, paranoid and not responding to logic, the memo said. Morales said medication Bayan has been on following a head injury in 2011 may be affecting his condition, the memo said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Bayan accused the hearing panel members, the board and DPH of treating him unfairly and damaging his career without evidence.

“There’s something wrong here,” he said. “There is a strong bias against me.”

He added “I’m not an anti-Semite” and “you are making trouble for me…you should have proof for everything.”

The board also reprimanded Dr. David Polke, a Naugatuck obstetrician and gynecologist, for failing to meet the standard of care when he failed to retain a patient’s non-stress test monitoring strips as part of her medical record, state records show. He had treated the patient in 2014 and 2015.

DPH began an investigation of Polke in 2017 when the patient’s attorney filed a complaint. In signing a consent order with the board, Polke chose not to contest the allegation.

The board also ordered Anita Mir, the owner of Spa Dior in Waterbury, to stop practicing medicine or surgery without a license. In May, DPH received a complaint that Mir performed cosmetic medical procedures, including laser hair removal and cavitation – a non-invasive alternative to liposuction, without a license, a consent order she agreed to said.

Mir also referred to herself as medical director of the spa, the order said. She agreed to the order while not admitting any wrongdoing and said she did not intentionally refer to herself as the medical director. She said her staff made a mistake when ordering her business cards that included that title.

The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday disciplined two physicians with fines of $10,000 or more, including a Stamford doctor for a lack of documentation while prescribing to employees.

The board also agreed to withdraw charges against two other physicians who either voluntarily relinquished their medical license or agreed to allow their license to lapse.

Dr. Laurence Kirwan of Stamford, was fined $12,500 for a lack of adequate documentation while prescribing medication to three of his employees who were also patients from 2009 to 2017, according to a consent order.

It was Kirwan’s second reprimand and fine before the board, according to state records. In 2017, he was fined $2,500 for failing to maintain adequate treatment records and documentation for a surgical patient from March to July 2014. He successfully completed a four-month probationary period which included a course in documentation, state records show.

The most recent investigation into Kirwan’s documentation practices was opened after a referral from the state’s Department of Consumer Protection, Drug Control Division, documents said.  His license has been reprimanded for a second time as part of the order, documents said.

Cornelia Gallo, a Westport physician, was fined $10,000 and her license was placed on probation for 12 months after the state Department of Public Health (DPH) received a complaint from the state Department of Developmental Services (DDS) regarding care for one of their clients, documents said.

As part of her probation, Gallo is required to be under practice supervision and attend courses in documentation, laboratory testing pertinent to prescriptions and in skills in dealing with patients with limited communication and their guardians and case managers, a consent order said.

The board also agreed to drop charges against two physicians who either voluntarily surrendered their medical license or let their license lapse which would requiring a renewal process and review.

Stamford physician Ajay Ahuja agreed to voluntarily surrender his medical license as he was facing disciplinary action from the board and criminal charges in connection with his prescribing practices, documents said.

Federal authorities revoked his license to prescribe medications in February after a two-year investigation into his prescription activities, federal documents said. Ahuja was charged a week later after a statewide narcotics task force which included federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided his Stamford office. The board agreed to drop any pending investigations as he was relinquishing his medical license.

The board also agreed to drop any investigations involving Prem Nath, a physician whose medical license has been suspended for nearly a decade. Nath’s license has since lapsed and any renewal process would require an extensive review, including the allegations that were under investigation, documents said.

The post Med Board Fines Two Doctors A Total Of $22,500 appeared first on Connecticut Health Investigative Team.

The state Medical Examining Board voted Tuesday to discipline two physicians including issuing a $7,500 fine and one-year probation to a Weston doctor who prescribed opioids to six people without discussing pain management treatment goals or informing the patients of the risks in taking the drugs.

The board also agreed to discipline a physician assistant who had told a patient suffering from a pulmonary blood clot to “lose weight.”

While working at the PCA Pain Care Center in Wallingford from 2014–2016, Dr. David Marks, of Weston, primarily prescribed opioids and no other pain care treatment to six people, according to a consent order. Marks failed to obtain patient histories pertaining to their injuries or previous pain management treatment, failed to discuss treatment goals, or warn people of the risks associated with opioids, the consent order said.

He also failed to consult the state’s Prescription Monitoring and Reporting System to see if the patients were receiving prescriptions from other practitioners and failed to assess the patients’ mental status for depression or suicidality or document his findings, the consent order he signed said.

The board fined Marks $7,500 and placed him probation for one year during which he’ll be required to have supervision when prescribing Schedule II or III controlled substances.

A Middletown Physician Assistant was issued a $2,500 fine after a patient died from an undiagnosed pulmonary embolism following instructions to “lose weight” in September of 2012, according to a consent order.

Cheryl McDonald, a Physician Assistant with ProHealth Physicians – Middlesex Family Physicians, failed to compare a previous electrocardiogram and consult with her supervising physician before telling the patient to lose weight and go to the emergency room if their symptoms worsened, the order said.

The patient died three days later, documents said. McDonald has since completed courses in documentation, cardiology and cardiovascular disease, the order said.

Dr. Sundaramurthy Balachandran of Putnam was fined $1,000 after he delegated the administration of vaccines to an unlicensed medical student in his practice at the New England Family Medical Center and Walk-in Clinic, according to a consent order.

Balachandran improperly allowed the unlicensed medical student to administer vaccines in April 2019 after the practice’s LPN left, documents said. He agreed to comply with the requirement that only a licensed staff member could administer vaccines, a consent order said.

The post Med Board Disciplines Two Doctors; Fines Weston Doc $7,500 appeared first on Connecticut Health Investigative Team.

The state Medical Examining Board disciplined two physicians with $5,000 fines for failing to adequately inform and monitor patients while prescribing opioids or anti-anxiety medications.

Dr. Michael Kelly, of Salisbury, was issued a $5,000 fine and a year of probation Tuesday for failing to consistently adhere to a safe opioid prescribing system that included checking the medical history of patients and documenting justification for chronic opioid treatment, according to a consent order, approved today (Tuesday).

A state Department of Public Health (DPH) consultant looking into a referral made by the state Department of Consumer Protection, Drug Control Division, found that Kelly also failed to monitor chronic opioid patients and didn’t check the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program every 90 days for some patients.

As a result of the investigation, Kelley, a primary care physician with a private practice in Salisbury, agreed to pay the fine and have 20% of his patients’ records reviewed during a one-year period of probation. Kelly voluntarily surrendered his registration to prescribe controlled substances and would need to be monitored for a year if he sought the registration back, DPH documents said.

The board also agreed to issue a $5,000 fine and one-year probation to a Hamden psychiatrist who failed to withdraw a patient from the use of Xanax on a safe schedule, according to documents.

Dr. Enrique Tello-Silva, of Hamden, discontinued the patient’s use of Xanax in October 2018, after the patient had been on the drug for about 15 months, an investigation revealed. Tello-Silva failed to provide adequate information to the patient on the use of the drug and failed to check the patient’s prescription profile in the state’s prescription monitoring program, documents said.

Tello-Silva will also be required to hire another physician to review 20% of his patient files and monitoring his practice throughout the one-year probationary period. The psychiatrist will be required to take course work in documentation standards and the proper prescription and discontinuation of benzodiazepines such as Xanax, a consent order said.

In March, the board also disciplined three physicians.

Dr. Stephen Zebrowski of Plainville was issued a reprimand and an additional four-month probationary period for failing to report to DPH new duties or jobs taken after previously being disciplined by the board for prescribing controlled substances without adequately monitoring a patient’s history of abuse.

Under the terms of his previous discipline, Zebrowski was required to get pre-approval for any new employment or change in employment during a one-year probationary period or if he had obtained a new job or duties after the probation was complete, documents said.

Zebrowski failed to report to DPH that he had expanded his duties to include reading bone density scans and acting as an on-call physician for ProHealth physicians until March 2019, according to a consent decree approved by the board in March.

In addition to the reprimand, Zebrowski must complete a course in ethics during the four-month probation period.

Dr. William Biles, of New Fairfield, was placed on probation for two years and will have to receive permission from DPH if he wants to return to practice, under the terms of a disciplinary consent agreement.  His license was also reprimanded by the board.

Biles came under investigation in 2018 after Danbury Hospital and the Western Connecticut Health Network sent to DPH a mandatory report concerning his care for several patients, documents said. Biles resigned from his privileges to practice at both entities during the investigation into whether he prescribed excessive amounts of controlled substances and provided inadequate diagnosis and medical care to patients with common conditions, the state said.

A Granby dermatologist was issued a $1,000 fine after an investigation revealed that she allowed a staff member to perform laser treatments and injections without checking if the person had a valid license, the DPH said.

DPH began investigating Dr. Meagen McCusker in August after receiving an anonymous complaint, documents said. The complainant alerted the state that McCusker was allowing an unlicensed staff member to perform nursing duties.

An investigation revealed that McCusker failed to check the licensure status of the person who was performing laser treatments and injections from September 2018 to July 2019.

The post State Fines Three Doctors, Disciplines Two Others appeared first on Connecticut Health Investigative Team.

The state Medical Examining Board voted Tuesday to discipline two physicians including issuing a $4,000 fine and one-year probation to a Bolton doctor who prescribed opioids to at least two patients but failed to provide adequate drug screening and documentation.

The board also agreed to modify the terms of discipline for two physicians including a Fairfield County doctor who had done federal prison time as part of a compound medication cream scheme.

The Department of Public Health (DPH) began looking into the practice of Dr. Ronald Buckman, of Bolton, in 2018 after receiving a complaint from an employee, according to a consent order. While the agency didn’t substantiate any issues with the way Buckman’s family-based practice was being managed, investigators did find that he had “deviated from the standard of care” for at least two patients for whom he had prescribed opioids, DPH papers said.

Buckman failed to adequately document and examine one patient to whom he had prescribed painkillers while the patient was also taking muscle relaxers, an anti-seizure drug and possibly an antidepressant, prescribed by other physicians, the DPH said. Buckman also failed to discuss with the patient drug interactions and alternate treatments, investigators said.

In a second case, Buckman prescribed opioids to a patient who was taking anti-anxiety medication prescribed by a second physician, documents said. In both cases Buckman also failed to document urinalysis findings for both patients, officials said.

As part of the agreement with the DPH to keep practicing, Buckman is required to pay a $4,000 fine, and attend coursework in chronic pain management for primary care physicians and documentation practices when prescribing controlled substances, which he has already completed, officials said.

His license is reprimanded and he will have to hire the services of a licensed physician to conduct quarterly reviews of his records for patients who he has prescribed controlled substances during a one-year probation period.

The board also agreed to issue a reprimand to a second physician who had administered an epidural injection on the wrong side of a patient in August 2019, DPH papers said.

Dr. Kenneth Kramer was placed on probationary status for six months by his employer, Connecticut Orthopaedics in Hamden, and has taken coursework in patient safety and medical errors, according to the DPH.

Kramer recognized the error immediately and corrected himself, investigators said. The patient was doing well during a follow up visit, DPH papers said. Kramer had no other history with the DPH, officials said.

The board also agreed to modify two prior disciplines based on new information. Dr. Kakra Gyambibi, who formerly practiced in Stamford, was placed on two years of probation by the board in April after a hearing in December reviewing her fitness for practice.

Gyambibi was sentenced to three months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a health care scheme where she wrote more than 100 prescriptions for a keloid cream whose manufacturer claimed removed stretch marks, DPH papers said.

Gyambibi is still on federal probation but members of the board agreed that she was capable of ethically practicing medicine during their April monthly meeting. The board placed her on a two-year probation with stipulations for the review of her work.

The board agreed Tuesday to modify her discipline by not starting the probationary period until Gyambibi was working as a physician.

The board also agreed to modify the discipline issued to a Dayville doctor who had prescribed anxiety medication and a cannabis spray to an acquaintance without properly documenting the treatment. Dr. Gayle Klein was required as part of her discipline to submit quarterly reports from her supervisor to the DPH during her one-year probationary period, officials said.

Due to no fault of her own, she was not able to submit the third and fourth reports, DPH papers said. The board agreed to extend her probation to no later than December 31, 2020 to allow for time to get the fourth report submitted.

The state Medical Examining Board agreed Tuesday to discipline two doctors including a physician awaiting sentencing in a federal health care fraud case.

Dr. Fawad Hameedi, of New York, has been working periodically at urgent care centers in Connecticut while awaiting sentencing for his role in a health care fraud ring operating in New York, according to documents. He has not worked as a physician in Connecticut since March, officials said.

The board voted to place Hameedi on probation for two years with several stipulations and reprimand his Connecticut license to practice medicine. Under the terms of the discipline, Hameedi cannot operate a solo practice during the probation period and he must have his employer submit reports to the state Department of Public Health (DPH) every two months that he is working safely and using accurate billing practices.

If he is sentenced to a period of federal incarceration, his Connecticut medical license will be suspended and the probation period will be halted until he is released and practicing medicine again, documents said.

Hameedi and several other physicians including his uncle were indicted by federal agents in 2017 after an investigation into a scheme to make false statements in requests for insurance authorizations for diagnostic tests and medical insurance claims, officials with the DPH said.

During one of the incidents, Hameedi represented himself as physician during a phone call with a health care management entity before he had obtained his medical license, documents said.

Hameedi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud in 2018 and is awaiting sentencing, court documents said.

The board also suspended the Connecticut license of Dr. Roozbeh Badii who holds licenses in several states and was recently disciplined in Maryland and Virginia. Maryland health authorities suspended Badii’s medical license in April after a hearing on allegations he was “professionally, physically or mentally incompetent” to practice.

Virginia health authorities suspended Badii’s license in their state a month later based on the Maryland discipline. Badii said during the meeting that he does limited medical consultations in Connecticut. He holds licenses in 10 states. The DPH recommended that board also suspend his license until a full hearing in this state on whether he presents “a clear and immediate danger to the public” can be held.

Badii’s Connecticut license was reprimanded in 2016 following an incident in Maryland when he signed prescription forms in advance in his work as the medical director of a rehabilitation and nursing center.

The board also agreed to reinstate with restrictions the medical license of a doctor who had not practiced medicine since 2007. Dr. Onikepe Adegbola was seeking a reinstatement of her license to practice after working in the pharmaceutical industry for more than a decade and then staying home to care for her triplets while running a biotech and a food company part-time. She has not practiced medicine since completing a fellowship in Nuclear medicine in 2007, documents said.

She is seeking a job that does not involve clinical work, DPH officials said. The board agreed to reinstate her license with the provision that she doesn’t practice clinically.

The post Medical Board Disciplines Two Doctors appeared first on Connecticut Health Investigative Team.

The Medical Examining Board issued this week a four-year probationary period to a psychiatrist who is accused of excessive drinking and failing to follow state law on utilizing Connecticut’s prescription monitoring program.

Department of Public Health (DPH) investigators determined that Dr. Susannah Tung, a psychiatrist, who runs a private practice while also working for the state Department of Correction (DOC), abused alcohol to excess at least twice; on Oct. 11 2017 and Feb. 20, 2020.

The board, in addition to the probation, reprimanded Tung’s license.

Investigators found that Tung failed to meet the standard of care from February 2017 to January 2020 by not utilizing the state Department of Consumer Protection’s Connecticut Prescription Monitoring and Reporting System (CPMRS) before prescribing controlled substances to three patients, documents said.

She also failed to access the prescription monitoring system at least once every 90 days for two patients who were receiving ongoing controlled substance prescriptions, DHP documents said.

The incidents occurred in her private practice, DPH officials said. Tung has been employed by the state Department of Correction since July 2018 as a principal psychiatrist working with inmates, DOC officials said.

The DOC will review the order and make sure any limitations on her license are adhered to, said Karen Martucci, spokesperson for the agency. Tung has 15 days from the board’s decision to provide the DOC with the order, documents said.

The state consumer protection’s Drug Control Division reported Tung to the DPH.

Physicians are required to utilize the Prescription Monitoring Program which allows health care providers and pharmacists to accurately determine which prescriptions have been issued to a patient to reduce addiction, prescription abuse and overdoses.

By state law, all prescriptions of Schedule II through V drugs including opioid painkillers must be reported to the state monitoring and reporting system, according to the consumer protection website.

Under the terms of a consent order approved by the board Tuesday, Tung will be on probation for four years during which she cannot be self-employed and must practice with other physicians at all times. She is also required to undergo therapy, attend a support group, and provide weekly and later bi-weekly observed urine samples for drugs and alcohol screenings.

Any missed urine screenings will be considered positive for drugs or alcohol, according to the order. Tung must successfully complete a course in prescribing practices during the probationary period.

Tung’s employer must file monthly reports with DPH indicating whether she is practicing with reasonable skill and safety and in an alcohol and substance-free state, the order said.

The state Medical Examining Board agreed Friday to temporarily suspend the medical license of a Durham physician who is accused of giving out exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and masks without examining – or even knowing – the patients requesting the documents, state records show.

Dr. Sue McIntosh is accused of allowing people to mail her Durham practice a self-addressed, stamped envelope to receive signed exemptions, state Department of Public Health (DPH) documents said. Her license to practice medicine and surgery is suspended until a hearing can be held on Oct. 5, officials said.

The exemption paperwork that McIntosh mailed to people included explanations of what various exemptions would be, such as cancers, autism disorders, autoimmune disorders and others, and how to fill out the exemption paperwork, documents said.

“You may copy and distribute as many forms as you wish to anyone,” the instructions provided by McIntosh said. “Keep blank copies for yourself for future use.” She ended the instructions with “Let freedom ring!” the DPH documents said.

The DPH received an anonymous tip on July 30 that McIntosh was allowing the general public, including people who she had never seen as patients before, to receive the exemptions, documents said.

A section chief with the DPH’s investigation unit learned of the complaint on Sept. 10, an affidavit said. The next day Christian Andresen, the section chief, sent McIntosh a self-addressed stamped envelope using his home address, he confirmed in the signed affidavit.

On Sept. 16 he received a packet from McIntosh that included signed exemption forms and instructions on how to use them, the investigator said. The paperwork included exemptions for receiving COVID-19 vaccines, exemptions for wearing masks to combat the spread of COVID-19, exemptions for receiving vaccines in general, and exemptions for receiving routine COVID testing which is sometimes required of people who have not been vaccinated.

The DPH issued a motion for summary suspension of McIntosh’s license this week. The board voted unanimously during an emergency meeting held Friday morning to suspend her license until Oct, 5, officials said. Under the suspension, she is not allowed to practice medicine until at least Oct. 5.

According to the DPH documents, McIntosh deviated from the standard of care by failing to properly diagnose or examine people who had been given the exemptions. She also failed to build a patient and physician relationship with those who requested the exemptions, failed to obtain their medical history, and failed to comply with Centers for Disease Control & Prevention  (CDC) guidelines by providing advice that was harmful to the public.

McIntosh did not respond to a request for comment. After the Oct. 5 hearing, the DPH could recommend a variety of disciplines, including a fine, probation with restrictions and education requirements, or the revocation of her Connecticut license to practice medicine if the allegations are found to be true.

The board would then be required to vote again on any discipline.

In July, the Federation of State Medical Boards warned physicians that they could face disciplinary action by their own state medical boards for spreading disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.

Physicians have “an ethical and professional responsibility to practice medicine in the best interests of their patients and must share information that is factual, scientifically grounded and consensus-driven for the betterment of public health,” the federation said in the warning.

Christopher Boyle, DPH spokesman, said in September that if the agency receives a complaint that a physician was spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, the Practitioner Investigation Unit will investigate.

To read Lisa Backus’ previous story on this issue go here.

Below scroll through the 20-pages of DPH documents on this case.

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

The state Medical Examining Board ranked 37^th in the nation in the annual rate of serious disciplinary actions the board took against physicians accused of wrongdoing from 2017 to 2019, according to a Public Citizen report issued earlier this year.

Connecticut’s board averaged about 13 serious disciplinary actions a year in 2017, 2018 and 2019, according to Public Citizen. The rankings are based on the number of serious disciplinary actions taken by states per 1,000 physicians. Connecticut’s rate was .65 per 1,000 physicians compared to Kentucky, which had the highest rate of serious disciplinary actions at 2.29 per 1,000 physicians, the report said. Public Citizen defines a “serious disciplinary action” as one that has a clear impact on a physician’s ability to practice.

The medical boards, which oversee the discipline of physicians in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, are largely unfunded or under-funded, are not adequately staffed, are reactive to complaints rather than initiating proactive investigations, and have little oversight by state officials or legislators, the report said.

“They are not doing what they are mandated to do,” said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, founder and senior advisor of the Public Citizen’s Health Research Group and one of the authors of the report. “So, what is happening is they are leaving tens of thousands of patients exposed to doctors who shouldn’t be practicing.”

Complaints filed against physicians in Connecticut can take months and sometimes years to investigate and adjudicate. In one recent case, a psychiatrist was allowed to practice while a 2018 complaint was investigated and discipline negotiated on allegations that he had failed to monitor a patient on Lithium and failed to keep the patient’s records during the period under review. His case was settled in June with a $10,000 fine and 18 months of probation.

Attorney Kathryn Emmett, the chair of the Connecticut board, said that the Public Citizen report doesn’t reveal the whole picture. Emmett said she couldn’t speak for the entire board but noted that comparing states by the number of disciplines issued wasn’t the best way to assess their effectiveness.

“I think that the idea that the greatest number of serious disciplines can be used is faulty,” Emmett said. “I don’t think it shows whether the board is accomplishing its goal of protecting the public.”

But at least two public members of the board share the national advocacy group’s concerns. Jean Rexford, who has been a board member for more than a decade and founded the Connecticut Center for Patient Safety, told the board during its May meeting that she wanted to look at whether it was doing enough to address the safety of the public.

“I think the legislation that chartered us was many, many years ago,” Rexford said. “Is it time to take a look at that and bring it up to 2021? Do we need to have better consideration of transparency? I’ve been feeling incredibly powerless on Zoom [where the meetings are now conducted] but also powerless in our role in protecting the public,” Rexford said before suggesting that a committee of board members examine “how we could keep current and do a better job.”

Rexford’s comments prompted the creation of a working group, which met in private for the first time on Sept. 28. The state Department of Public Health (DPH) contends that the meetings are administrative and not open to the public. The Connecticut Health Investigative Team has filed a complaint with the state’s Freedom of Information Commission on the denial of access to the working group meetings.

Med Board’s Composition And Role

The med board’s composition—which includes physicians, attorneys, and public members—and its duties are laid out in a decades-old law that has been periodically updated. The board has no funding and no staff of its own. Any fines collected from disciplined physicians go into state coffers. All staff members are DPH employees who also deal with complaints against other professions. The board has no independent investigatory or policy-making powers, according to the statute.

The DPH’s Practitioner Licensing and Investigations Section reviews complaints filed against physicians. The same investigators deal with complaints filed against dozens of other professions, including nurses, hair and nail salons, and veterinarians.

There are 18 full-time investigators within the unit who work on 1,200 to 1,500 complaints a year, said Section Chief Christian Andresen. There is also a hearing process for physicians who contest the charges. The agency receives about 450 complaints about physicians a year that result in an average of 43 disciplines a year, DPH officials said.

The DPH hires medical consultants to determine if a physician facing a complaint has met the standard of care or has participated in activities that could be harmful to patients, Andresen said. The range of complaints that come before the medical examining board includes physicians practicing while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, physicians failing to diagnose serious illness accurately, physicians practicing with a serious mental illness, or physicians prescribing to patients without adequate oversight or controls.

Michele Jacklin, a public member of the med board, said the board is “impotent and toothless” compared to medical boards in other states. “Other boards have budgets, publish newsletters and conduct seminars,” Jacklin said during an interview. “The Connecticut Medical Examining Board is totally reactive.”

Jacklin’s concerns range from no orientation process for new board members to the range of fines that can be issued as a discipline, she said.

“Other states routinely issue fines as high as $50,000,” Jacklin said. “In Connecticut, often the penalties are $1,000 to $5,000, which is a slap on the wrist for a physician.”

State statute limits the fines for physician discipline to $25,000.

There are no staff members who can monitor state or national medical issues that may arise, including checking social media for state physicians who are spreading misinformation on COVID-19 vaccines, officials said.

Although a DPH spokesperson said the agency would investigate all complaints related to misinformation about COVID-19, it took more than five weeks for Andresen to act on an anonymous tip that a retired Durham physician was issuing fraudulent exemptions for COVID-19 vaccines and masks to anyone who sent her a self-addressed stamped envelope, documents showed.

Since the complaint against Sue McIntosh was made anonymously, it took five weeks to “triage” before it was presented to Andresen to investigate, DPH officials said.

The board unanimously voted to suspend McIntosh’s medical license on Sept. 24. A few days later, the DPH alerted all long-term care facilities in the state, which require staff to be vaccinated, to review their employees’ COVID-19 vaccine exemptions to see if McIntosh had signed any.

The DPH has declined to provide any information on whether McIntosh had given exemptions to long-term care employees or any state employees, who are also mandated to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The board unanimously agreed to drop the charges against McIntosh last week after she voluntarily relinquished her medical license.

Under the current system, board members have no idea how many complaints have been filed, the substance of the complaints, or how many complaints have been dismissed, Jacklin said. “The discipline is negotiated by DPH attorneys and then what comes to us is a consent order,” she said. “We basically can’t ask any questions or get any other information other than what is in the consent order. All we can do is reject the consent order or rubber-stamp it.”

In general, the board focuses on approving disciplines that educate and monitor physicians so that they improve and provide better care, Emmett said. “I don’t think there’s good data to support that more discipline results in better care for the community,” Emmett added.

But the board could be doing more to protect the public by providing orientation for all board members and by being kept up to date on state legislative happenings and national policy changes, Rexford and Jacklin said.

Rexford said other state boards moved to pass legislation based on a national workgroup report on physician sexual misconduct. “I just feel as if we are missing the boat when I hear that and when I see what other groups are doing,” Rexford said. “At the very least, I would like Chris [Andresen] to attend meetings, I would like everybody to attend an orientation and I would like to feel that we were all working as a team.”

Read the Public Citizen report below.

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

The state Medical Examining Board last month revoked the license of a Shelton physician who failed to attend required mental health therapy sessions and fined four physicians for a variety of issues involving patient care.

On Dec. 21, the board revoked the medical license of Dr. Nami Bayan, which had been under suspension since May 1, 2019. Bayan’s license to practice medicine was initially suspended for two years and he was ordered to participate in therapy sessions at least twice a month after he exhibited signs of a mental health issue, a disciplinary report said.

In 2018 Bayan, a surgeon who worked at H & B Quality Medical Care in Shelton, had sent repeated e-mails to the state Department of Public Health (DPH) indicating he believed the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating the possibility of a terrorist attack based on a report he made, documents said. The board temporarily suspended his license in December 2018, saying Bayan “presented a clear and immediate danger to public health and safety.”

DPH investigators learned in 2020 that Bayan had violated the terms of the 2019 discipline by failing to show up for therapy sessions over the course of months, documents said. After a hearing on whether Bayan violated the terms of his discipline, the board voted to revoke his license permanently.

The board also reprimanded the license of Dr. Michael Imevbore, a pulmonary physician with CT Pulmonary Specialists in New Haven, and required him to pay a $5,000 fine after a DPH investigation found that he failed to check the state’s prescription monitoring and reporting system before writing prescriptions for more than 200 patients between July 2018 and May 2020, documents said.

Imevbore also wrote controlled substance prescriptions for another 70 patients, but only checked the state’s prescription monitoring program for half of them, from May 2020 to November 2020, investigators concluded. Since December of 2020 he has properly used the reporting system, DHP officials said.

Under the consent order approved by the board, Imevbore will be on probation for a year, during which he is required to have 20% of his patient files reviewed for his use of the prescription reporting system. The state Department of Consumer Protection Drug Control Division, which runs the prescription monitoring program, will do two random audits of his compliance with the system in the next year, the order said.

The board also fined three other physicians.

Dr. J. James Bruno II, of Urology Associates in Danbury, was fined $1,000 after he failed to meet the standard of care by not reviewing a scan before he performed a cystoscopy on a patient in 2019 to remove a kidney stone. The scan revealed that the kidney stone had been passed prior to the procedure, documents said. The board also reprimanded Bruno’s license.

Dr. Rania Rifaey, of Avon, was fined $1,000 after injecting numbing medication and other drugs used to treat inflammation on the wrong side of a patient suffering from bursitis in October of 2018, documents said. Rifaey’s license was also reprimanded.

Dr. Murray Wellner was fined $1,000 and his license placed on probation for nine months after an investigation found that he had used illegible handwriting to document the files of at least three patients from 2013 to 2020, according to DPH.

During the probationary period, Wellner, a West Hartford physician, will have to undergo a review of 20% of his patient files to check for legibility, the consent order said. Wellner had been previously disciplined by the board in 2011 after an investigation revealed he had inappropriately prescribed a drug to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder for eight patients who didn’t need the treatment.

The board also reprimanded the Connecticut license of a physician who was disciplined by California authorities for diagnosing and treating patients through telehealth without proper assessment and evaluation, documents said.

Dr. Ho Dzung Anh, a physician practicing in California, was disciplined in California after he prescribed antibiotics for two undercover investigators posing as telehealth patients, documents said. Anh holds medical licenses in several states, the DPH said.

The state Medical Examining Board denied Wednesday the request of a Shelton physician to reconsider the December revocation of his medical license after he failed to attend required mental health therapy.

In a unanimous decision, the board denied Dr. Nami Bayan’s request for reconsideration following a brief hearing Wednesday morning.

Bayan was seeking to have the revocation sent to a hearing on claims that state Department of Public Health (DPH) staff “tampered with evidence” and the board disregarded information that showed he had largely complied with the terms of a two-year suspension, documents show.

“This action is an obvious crime,” said Bayan who added that information on his therapy was “neglected and wrongfully dismissed.”

Bayan’s license to practice medicine was suspended in 2019 and he was ordered to participate in therapy sessions at least twice a month after he exhibited signs of a mental health issue, a disciplinary report said.

But DPH investigators concluded that he had missed several months of required therapy while he was out of the country from July 2020 to March 2021, according to documents.

“It’s not in dispute that Dr. Bayan failed to attend therapy during that lengthy period of time,” said DPH attorney Diane Wilan during Wednesday’s hearing.

“The decision (to revoke his license) was based on his failure to attend therapy and provide reports,” Wilan added.

Bayan did not notify the DPH or seek permission to miss treatment when he went out of the country for nearly eight months, Wilan said.

The board voted Dec. 21 to revoke Bayan’s license, following a hearing on whether he violated the terms of his discipline.

Bayan, a surgeon who worked at H & B Quality Medical Care in Shelton, has been under scrutiny since 2018 when he sent repeated e-mails to DPH indicating he believed the police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating the possibility of a terrorist attack based on a report he made, documents said.

The board temporarily suspended his license in December 2018, citing that Bayan “presented a clear and immediate danger to public health and safety.”

Bayan argued in documents and during the hearing on his request for reconsideration that an initial diagnosis from a DPH required mental health examination was erroneous and he had “no sign of a major psychiatric issue and there was no need for intense psychiatric treatment.”

He could challenge the 2018 suspension and the diagnosis by again seeking reconsideration if there were a change in conditions such as new information had come to light, Attorney Kerry Colson with the Office of Attorney General William Tong said.

Bayan could also apply for reinstatement after demonstrating that he attended therapy and was fit to practice, board members said.

The state Medical Examining Board revoked the Connecticut medical license of a physician for a second time Tuesday after he failed to follow the terms of reinstatement including seeking help for alcohol abuse and submitting to random urine screenings.

John D. Lynch II, MD, was granted a reinstatement by the board in January 2020. Under the terms, Lynch could have started practicing in February 2021, documents said. But by June 2021, a private therapist issued a report to the state Department of Public Health (DPH) indicating that Lynch “was not able to practice medicine with reasonable skill or safety.”

DPH documents also said that since February 2021, Lynch has not attended individual or support group treatment meetings, failed to submit random urine screens and failed to participate in a required clinical skills evaluation. A therapist also reported that that Lynch was off his regular medication for a mental health issue due to the cost and would likely not be able to safely practice unless he resumed the medication, documents said.

In 2012, the board revoked Lynch’s license after he was fired from his job as an emergency department physician with Hartford HealthCare for coming to work smelling of alcohol, documents said.

He now lives in Virginia and was not practicing in Connecticut when the violations of the probation were reported to the DPH, documents said. The board temporarily suspended his Connecticut medical license on Nov. 16 until a hearing on the allegations could take place. It is unclear if he is practicing medicine in Virginia.

Lynch or his attorney did not attend the hearing which took place on Dec. 1, DPH officials said. Under state law, Lynch is considered to have admitted the allegations since he did not respond to the charges or attend the hearing, DPH officials said.

In other business, the board also granted a medical license to a pediatric ophthalmologist who has completed all of the requirements except a two-year graduate medical education program. Mariana Flores, MD, will be working at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday fined an Oxford doctor $10,000 for fraudulently using another doctor’s name and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number to prescribe controlled substances to a family member.

In addition to the fine, board also voted unanimously to reprimand the medical license of the doctor, Marc D. Legris, and ordered him to take a course in ethics and to practice in a supervised office setting.  The order does not indicate the name of the doctor that Legris used.

In a consent order approved by the board, Legris chose not to contest the allegations.

Department of Public Health records show that in August 2021, Legris surrendered his own DEA registration and Connecticut controlled substance credential. DPH began its investigation after a referral from the state Department of Consumer Protection.

The consent order states that Legris prescribed the drugs to a family member on a recurring basis from August 2018 to August 2021. The relative was not a patient of his, and he did not maintain medical records for the relative, the order said.

In an unrelated case, the board voted unanimously to fine a former Hartford allergist, Dr. Michael L. Krall, $2,000 and to reprimand his medical license, state records show, for prescribing cough medicine with codeine for a family member six times between May 2017 and May 2020.

The relative was not his patient, and Krall did not maintain medical records for the family member, according to a consent order approved by the board. Krall, who now lives in Boston and no longer practices medicine in Connecticut, chose not to contest the allegations, the order said. Consumer Protection had referred the case to DPH.

The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday suspended the license of a Stamford doctor after state Department of Public Health officials said his excessive use of alcohol and drugs and his mental illnesses may affect his ability to safely practice medicine.

A statement of charges against him says that Dr. Jeffrey Stern excessively used alcohol and narcotics in 2019 and 2020 and since 2019, has had mental illnesses or emotional disorders.

DPH records show that Stern was arrested on Aug. 29, 2020 and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to use and driving while intoxicated. It was unclear where the arrest took place. In 2019, Stern had temporarily surrendered his medical license in New York and voluntarily agreed to stop practicing medicine in Florida, DPH records show.

In the statement of charges, DPH contends that Stern, who is listed on state records as living in New York City, falsely answered “no” when asked on his 2020 Connecticut medical license application if he had voluntarily surrendered any professional license or was facing possible discipline in any other state.

From 2020 to 2021, Stern also falsely used his Connecticut license to treat patients in New York and violated Connecticut law by prescribing opioid drugs to patients though telehealth appointments, the statement said. During the same period, he also violated state law by prescribing controlled substances to patients who had no demonstrated physical or medical disorders, it said.

From 2020 to 2021, he also prescribed more than a 72-hour supply of a controlled substance to a patient and failed to review electronic prescription drug monitoring records, the statement said.

At the meeting, additional charges were added against Stern after Joelle Newton, a DPH staff attorney, said the health department had received new allegations from the state Department of Consumer Protection’s Drug Control Division about Stern prescribing controlled substances.

Darius Marzec, a Brooklyn, New York attorney representing Stern, objected to the new charges being added and asked that a public hearing in the case be continued to August. The board agreed to the continuance after suspending Stern’s license.

In an unrelated case, the board also voted to reprimand the physician assistant license of Derek William Donovan of Colchester and placed his license on probation for five years because a DPH investigation found that he had used alcohol and marijuana excessively since 2020.

Donovan chose not to contest the allegations and agreed to the punishment in a consent order that was accepted by the board Tuesday.

The order, which said he has an emotional disorder or mental illness, states that Donovan falsified medical records in 2021 and made false written statements the same year to mislead people working on behalf of DPH.

During the probation, Donovan must submit to random drug and alcohol tests, complete a course in professional ethics, undergo therapy and attend support group meetings. Under the order, he is also barred from working as a solo practitioner.

Matthew Carlone, a Wethersfield attorney representing Donovan, told the board that the consent order was a “fair and equitable agreement.”

The state Medical Examining Board imposed disciplinary action against four doctors Tuesday, including fining a West Hartford ophthalmologist $15,000 for operating on the wrong eye and fining a Bridgeport radiologist $5,000 in connection with a delayed cancer diagnosis.

The board also reprimanded the medical license of the ophthalmologist, Dr. Patrick F. Albergo, for failing to comply with his Connecticut Eye Center’s “time-out” procedures and failing to maintain adequate medical records, according to a consent order he signed.

Albergo, who chose not to contest the allegations, has completed courses in medical recordkeeping and changed protocols at the center to make sure that surgeons mark the correct eye before operating, the order said.

The patient needed surgery on both eyes, and both procedures were done on separate days but in the wrong order, state Department of Public Health records (DPH) show.

Board member Dr. Robert A. Green said the excuse that the patient needed surgery on both eyes is not acceptable.

“As a surgeon, this is considered a ‘never’ event,’’ he said.

In addition to the $5,000 fine, the board also reprimanded the medical license of the radiologist, Dr. Paul Aiello, for incorrectly describing a patient’s vaginal ultrasound results as “unremarkable” in 2019 though the woman had cancer. DPH records show that the patient filed a complaint that said her cancer diagnosis had been delayed due to Aiello and she had to have a hysterectomy and chemotherapy.

Aiello failed to meet the standard of care by not including in his report that measurements of the lining of the patient’s uterus were outside of normal limits, a consent order he signed said. Aiello, who chose not to contest the allegations, apologized to the patient, was recertified as a radiologist and completed a number of medical courses, DPH records show.

Aiello’s New Haven attorney, Kevin Budge, said Aiello has expressed remorse for the error and has reached an agreement to compensate the patient. Budge did not disclose the amount of the financial settlement.

The case prompted a discussion of the size of fines proposed by DPH, with Dr. C. Steven Wolf saying that medical boards in other states regularly impose higher fines. Green voted against the consent order as did board member Michele Jacklin.

“I just want to say that this [fine] is remarkably and laughably insufficient,’’ Jacklin said.

Jacklin asked that DPH officials come to a future board meeting to explain how the fines are negotiated and set, and board chairperson Kathryn Emmett said she will put such a discussion on a future agenda.

The board also imposed a $10,000 fine and reprimanded the medical license of Dr. Gary Blick, the chief medical officer of Health Care Advocates International, a Stratford health clinic that specializes in the care of LGBTQ and HIV-positive patients.

Blick agreed to a consent order that states that in 2017 and 2018, he failed to properly care for a patient, failed to maintain proper medical records for the patient and failed to monitor the person’s outcome after medical interventions.

Multiple times, Blick also directed unlicensed people to administer medications to patients, including intravenously, the consent order said. It also said that in 2018, Blick failed to maintain adequate infection prevention practices and failed to properly secure patient medical information.

While admitting no wrongdoing, Blick did not contest the allegations, the order said. DPH records show that Blick has completed courses in medical recordkeeping, infection control and management of autoimmune disorders.

Wolf said DPH should have included a probationary period in the consent order and required Blick’s practice to be reviewed by another physician.

“We have no real idea if this is an isolated incident,’’ he said.

Blick’s New Haven attorney, Phyllis Pari, said that Blick submitted an infection control plan in 2018 that was approved by DPH and Blick had an independent board-certified physician review his practice.

“The conclusion is that Dr. Blick is practicing with skill and safety,’’ she said.

In response, Wolf said that made him feel more comfortable with the order.

The board voted 11-6 to reject a consent order that would have fined a doctor who has worked at vein clinics in Southbury and Greenwich $2,500 for performing an excessive number of procedures on a patient and misclassifying the severity of the patient’s vein disease, state records show.

Several board members objected to the low fine, so the case of Desiree Clarke, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was returned to DPH.

The board also fined a New York City ophthalmologist $5,000 and reprimanded his medical license for failing to disclose in 2020 that he was facing disciplinary action in other states when he applied to have his license renewed in Connecticut.

Dr. Andrew Gewirtz chose not to contest the allegation in a consent order he signed. In 2020, California’s medical board reprimanded his medical license for failing to supervise technicians in person who were performing refraction eye exams on patients. Medical boards in Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois and Maryland have also taken disciplinary action against Gewirtz based on the California order.

The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday suspended the medical license of a Woodbridge pulmonologist for conducting sexually inappropriate examinations of two female patients and fined a West Hartford ophthalmologist $40,000 for failing to ensure that four patients received the correct implant during cataract surgery.

State Department of Public Health (DPH) records show that the pulmonologist, Dr. Sushil K. Gupta, conducted the inappropriate exams between 2019 and 2022. In suspending his license, the board said Gupta poses a “clear and immediate danger to the public.”

DPH records show that Gupta also violated a 2013 decision of the board that required that he have a female chaperone in the room with him when examining or treating female patients.

This is the second time that Gupta has been accused of sexually inappropriate exams of female patients. The board revoked his license in 2006 after finding that the testimony of two women was credible when they described Gupta touching them in inappropriate ways during pulmonary exams, state records show.

Gupta was arrested and a jury found him guilty of two counts of fourth-degree sexual assault in 2005, records show. He appealed the verdict, and the state Appellate Court set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial. In 2010, the state Supreme Court agreed, upholding the reversal of the conviction.

That year, a judge granted Gupta accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation. In 2012, Gupta completed the probation and the criminal charges were dropped, records show.

Over the objections of DPH lawyers, the board reinstated Gupta’s medical license in 2013 and placed it on probation for one year. In 2016, the board unanimously rejected a request from Gupta to drop the chaperone requirement because, his lawyer said, the restriction was keeping Gupta from gaining privileges at a hospital.

On Tuesday, in addition to the $40,000 fine, the board also reprimanded the medical license of the ophthalmologist, Dr. Duane F. Austin, for failing to comply with his Connecticut Eye Center’s “time-out” protocol and failing to review patient charts before surgery to verify that the correct lens was selected for the implant surgery, according to a consent order he signed.

Austin chose not to contest the allegations.

Dr. Robert Green, a board member, said he was pleased to see the large fine imposed in this case. He and other board members have sometimes argued at meetings that the fines imposed in some cases are too low.

“I think the civil penalty is extremely appropriate because this is a very serious matter,’’ he said.

This is the second Connecticut Eye Center ophthalmologist to be disciplined by the board in recent weeks. Last month, it fined Dr. Patrick F. Albergo from the center $15,000 for operating on the wrong eye in September 2020 and reprimanded his medical license. State records show that Albergo, who did not contest the allegation, was also cited for failing to comply with the center’s “time-out” procedures and failing to maintain adequate medical records.

In other business, the board placed the residency training permit of a former Yale School of Medicine resident on probation for two years after the resident, Dr. Ryan Smith, admitted using crystal methamphetamine and abusing alcohol in 2020, the board’s memorandum of decision said.

Smith, whose conduct at work resulted in his suspension from the Yale Primary Care Internal Medicine residency program, also admitted having an emotional disorder and mental illness since 2020 but denied that they affected his ability to safely practice medicine, the memo said.

During the probation, Smith must see a therapist and submit to random drug and alcohol tests.

The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday reprimanded two doctors, including fining a Waterbury doctor $10,000 for inappropriately prescribing high doses of narcotics to a patient.

In addition to the fine and reprimand, the board also placed the medical license of the Waterbury physician, Dr. Philip A. Mongelluzzo Jr., on probation for two years, state records show.

Mongelluzzo failed to meet the standard of care for a patient between 2014 and 2018 when he did not appropriately treat the patient’s chronic pain and prescribed the narcotics without documenting the therapeutic reasons for the drugs, according to a consent order that Mongelluzzo signed.

The order said Mongelluzzo, the owner of Care Beyond Medicine in Waterbury, also prescribed sedatives to the patient without limits and without an adequate medical purpose for doing so.

While not admitting to wrongdoing, Mongelluzzo chose not to contest the allegations, the consent order said. The doctor has completed coursework on proper prescribing practices. During the probation, Mongelluzzo must hire a physician to monitor his practice, the consent order said.

His attorney, Richard Brown, said this was a difficult case because the patient had become a friend of Mongelluzzo, and the doctor did help the patient manage his chronic pain. Still, Brown said, Mongelluzzo admits he did not keep adequate records or follow the proper protocol. Mongelluzzo is no longer accepting patients who are suffering from chronic pain, Brown said.

“This was a unique situation,” Brown said. “He has taken this very seriously.”

In an unrelated case, the board reprimanded the resident physician license of Dr. Daniel Chen of Hartford for engaging in “illegal, unethical and unprofessional conduct” when he falsified a COVID-19 vaccination card, state records show.

Chen, a 2016 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, presented the falsified vaccine card to the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, state records show. UConn reported Chen to the state Department of Public Health.

While not admitting wrongdoing, Chen chose not to contest the allegation and signed a consent order in which he agreed to the reprimand.

Dr. Robert A. Green, a board member, called Chen’s case sad and said that since the reprimand will be reported to a national database of disciplinary actions against doctors, “this is going to follow him forever.”

Chen’s attorney, Gretchen Randall, said the mistake cost Chen his position at UConn with just a few months to go in the program. He has since been licensed in California and is doing telehealth radiology, she said. She said Chen has admitted that he made a “very serious error in judgment” and “he really has learned that lesson.”

Chen’s license is inactive in Connecticut, but the state Department of Public Health can initiate an investigation into a licensee within 18 months of the license expiring, Christopher Boyle, a DPH spokesman, said.