Why drug-treatment doctors were disciplined
Below is a list of doctors who were recently disciplined by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure and are also on the federal government’s list of doctors approved to prescribe buprenorphine, the main ingredient in Suboxone.
The information is summarized from medical board documents. Licenses were suspended, revoked or restricted in various ways for any reason. In some cases, restricting a license can result in a doctor going out of practice. For example, when Ashland physician Roi Reed was disciplined, he told the board he would be retiring anyway. So an agreed order restricting his license avoided a hearing process and resulted in the same thing as revoking it, said Leanne Diakov, general counsel for the medical board.
Most but not all of the cases below deal with prescribing issues involving Suboxone, other opioids, or both. “We take prescribing cases very seriously,” said Diakov, adding that the board “doesn’t hesitate to intervene.”
1. Name: Rodney Crock Location: Ashland Date of most recent order: June 2015 Nature of complaint: Includes accusations of using pre-printed Suboxone prescriptions, which is prohibited, and prescribing Suboxone in Kentucky when he only has federal permission to prescribe the medication in Ohio. Discipline: Amended agreed order restricting his license indefinitely. Active physician.
2. Name: Roi Reed Location: Ashland
Date of most recent order: June 2016
Nature of complaint: Accusations include allowing his receptionist and maintenance man to see patients and call in prescriptions for Suboxone. Discipline: Agreed order restricting his license indefinitely (prohibiting practice of medicine). Inactive physician.
3. Name: Sharad Patel Location: Elizabethtown Date
of most recent order: October 2015 Nature of complaint: Includes accusation that he didn’t check the prescription database KASPER for many patients who were being prescribed controlled substances, and didn’t require them to give urine samples. Discipline: Agreed order of indefinite restriction (prohibiting practice of medicine). Inactive physician.
4. Name: David Swan Location: Nicholasville Date
of most recent order: February 2017 Nature of complaint: Includes accusation that he prescribed doses of more than 24 milligrams of buprenorphine per day, which a board consultant said was excessive, and that he prescribed buprenorphine along with benzodiazepines. Discipline: License revoked.
5. Name: Curtis Edens Location: Louisa Date of most recent order: November 2016 Nature of complaint: Accusations include finding no evidence he used KASPER to check on patients and that he prescribed Suboxone instead of Subutex to pregnant patients, against prevailing medical practice. Discipline: Agreed order to surrender license. Inactive physician.
6. Name: Kenny Bowman Location: Jackson Date of most recent order: May 2 016 Nature of complaint: Accusations include not requesting KASPER reports for controlled substance patients. Discipline: Agreed order restricting his license. Active physician.
7. Name: Allen Tinsley Location: Paducah Date of most recent order: June 2 014 Nature of complaint: Accusations include concerns about controlled substance prescribing and sex with a patient.
Discipline: Amended order restricting his license indefinitely. Active physician.
8. Name: Gregory Lee Location: Jackson Date of most recent order: November 2 013 Nature of complaint: Accusations include writing more than 100 prescriptions for himself, family members and Walmart associates after his license became inactive a year earlier. Discipline: Agreed order to surrender license. Inactive physician.
9. Name: James Chaney Location: Hazard Date of most recent order: September 2016 Nature of complaint: Indicted in federal court on two felony counts of knowingly and intentionally conspiring to distribute and dispense controlled substances. Discipline: License revoked. Inactive physician.
10 . Name: Ezekiel Akande Location: Somerset Date of most recent order: April 2017 Nature of complaint: An analysis by an investigator found patients to the pain management facility where he worked were traveling long distances and getting medicine from several pharmacies, and he was prescribing addictive combinations of medicine. Discipline: Amended emergency order of suspension. Inactive physician.
11 . Name: Paul Maglinger Location: Bowling Green Date of most recent order: October 2016 Nature of complaint: Accusations include failing to conform to acceptable and prevailing medical practice in the use of the anesthetic propofol.
Discipline: Order restricting his license indefinitely. Active physician.
12 . Name: Paul Craig Location: Grethel Date of most recent order: October 2 015 Nature of complaint: Accusations include having a sexual relationship with a patient he treated for opiate addiction in West Virginia and not reporting action on his West Virginia license to the Kentucky board. Discipline: License placed on probation for five years. Active physician.
13 . Name: Amir Kaldas Location: North Carolina (licensed in Kentucky)
Date of most recent order: December 2 014 Nature of complaint: A North Carolina survey of prescriptions revealed high quantities of controlled substance prescribing to two patients and writing controlled substance prescriptions to two close family members and a family pet.
Discipline: .Agreed order restricting his license indefinitely. Active physician.
14 . Name: Jerry Nein Location: Greenville Date of most recent order: March 2009 Nature of complaint: Accusations include obtaining controlled substances for personal use. Discipline: Order terminating agreed order of indefinite restriction; met requirements of the previous order. Active physician.
15 . Name: Gary Patton Location: Lexington Date of most recent order: July 2 016 Nature of complaint: Accusations include issues with prescribing controlled substances, and pleading guilty in 2002 to amended charges of two counts of possession of Schedule IV controlled substances.
Discipline:. License revoked. Inactive physician.
16 . Name: David Ratliff Location: Pikeville Date of most recent order:
March 2017 Nature of complaint: Accusations include improper prescribing of controlled substances and sexual misconduct.
Discipline: Third amended agreed order restricting his license indefinitely (can only provide pre-operative anesthesia.) Active physician.
17 . Name: Wayne Edwards Location: Prestonsburg Date of most recent order: October 2016 Nature of complaint: Suffered a drug overdose and depression, according to the board. Discipline: Second amended agreed order restricting his license indefinitely (can only practice at approved locations.) Active physician.
18 . Name: Yunus Shah Location: Goshen Date
of most recent order: October 2 014 Nature of complaint: Accusations include patients appearing impaired after visits and traveling there from Eastern Kentucky or out of state. Discipline: Amended agreed order restricting license indefinitely. Active physician.
19 . Name: Richard Karrel Location: Louisville Date of most recent order: April 2014 Nature of complaint: Accusations include writing prescriptions for
himself (was treated for opiate use problem.) Discipline: Corrected amended order restricting his license indefinitely. (He can prescribe Suboxone but not other controlled substances.) Active physician.
20. Name: Joel Stephenson Location: Frankfort Date of most recent order: October 2016 Nature of complaint: Indicted for sexual battery, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of assault by offensive contact. Discipline: Amended agreed order restricting his license indefinitely. Active physician.
21. Name: Imad Haddad Location: Liberty Date of most recent order: February 2017 Nature of complaint: Accusations include inappropriately prescribing controlled substances, including to patients at high risk for misuse. Discipline: Order terminating agreed order; met requirements of the previous order. Active physician.
22. Name. Mary Jean Lang Location: London Date of most recent order: August 2015 Discipline: Interim agreed order — treatment. Inactive physician.
23. Name: Jose Alzadon Location: Paintsville Date of most recent order: April 2009 Nature of complaint: Accusations include finding six surgical.cases in which there was a written or verbal occurrence report. Discipline: Order restricting his license indefinitely. Active physician.
24. Name: Jody Johnson Location: Prestonsburg Date of most recent order: December 2015 Nature of complaint: Accusations include failing to conform to acceptable and prevailing practices with eight of 11 patients examined.
Discipline: Amended agreed order restricting license indefinitely. Active physician.
25. Name: Anthony McEldowney Location: Lexington Date of most recent order: June 2016 Nature of complaint: Arrested and charged with assault in the fourth degree related to a minor at the YMCA when he feared his son would be injured in a basketball game. Discipline: Agreed order restricting his license indefinitely. Active physician.
26. Name: Bret Dunning Location: Prestonsburg Date of most recent order: February 2016 Nature of complaint: Indicted and charged with six counts of possession of material portraying a sexual performance by a minor. Discipline: Amended order of license surrender. Inactive physician.
27. Name: William Short Location: Ashland Date of most recent order: April 2017 Discipline: Interim order — treatment (can’t currently practice medicine.)
By Laura Ungar
The Courier-Journal
