Many Pennsylvania residents may prefer to entrust their health care to physicians whose practices have a “small town” feel. The problem is that some doctors who favor traditional (some say, old fashioned) ways of record keeping, or allow patients to receive care without worrying about insurance, may run into legal complications if problems arise. A doctor in another state understands this all to well. In fact, his situation resulted in a licensing board stripping him of his license to practice medicine.
The doctor is an older gentleman who says he really tried to provide his patients the best care possible in the style of an old time country practice. He said many of his patients came to him suffering from chronic pain problems. The doctor says he would thoroughly examine each patient and provide prescriptions for medication based on individual need.
Some say the doctor was operating a pill mill. There were several complaints filed against him. Several people who were his patients died after he prescribed them opioid drugs; however, at least one of those patients was known to suffer substance abuse problems, and there’s no proof that the drugs that killed him came from the doctor in question.
No criminal charges have been filed against the doctor regarding the deaths. A licensing board did revoke his medical license though. The doctor says he finds the board’s actions unfair and believes the board was more upset about his lack of modern record-keeping than the medical care he provided for his patients. Any Pennsylvania doctor facing similar licensing problems will likely benefit by conferring an experienced attorney at the first opportunity.
Source: wfmynews2.com, “Forsyth Co. Doctor Accused Of Overprescribing Pills Loses License“, Erica Stapleton, Accessed on Feb. 20, 2018