Missouri and Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Cautions Physicians That Wrongdoing Can Lead to Criminal Charges

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The Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) investigates all manner of narcotics-related crimes. Their investigations are not limited to the distribution of street drugs. The DEA regulations require healthcare professionals who prescribe medications to register with the agency before lawfully prescribing medications.  The DEA also investigates allegations of criminal wrongdoing by doctors and other prescribers who abuse their prescription writing privileges. Not every abuse of prescription writing privileges leads to criminal charges. However, egregious conduct will result in an arrest, prosecution, and perhaps imprisonment.  In fact, several physicians in Missouri and Kansas were prosecuted for abusing their prescribing privileges. Not every healthcare professional went to jail, but each one lost their prescription writing privileges and surrendered their DEA registration. Professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger counsels maintaining the highest ethical standards in the practice of medicine will prevent abuse of privileges.

In 2009, the DEA arrested a Topeka, KS physician for distribution of schedule II drugs and acquiring drugs by misrepresentation or fraud. The physician pleaded guilty to both counts. The court sentenced the physician to three years (3) probation and prohibited the physician from practicing medicine during the probationary period as well as ordered the physician to complete 300 hours of community service. The government alleged that the physician wrote prescriptions to people who were not patients. Furthermore, the prescriptions were not intended for legitimate medical conditions. Instead, the doctor wrote prescriptions for oxycodone and amphetamine to his friends. His friends, in turn, gave the drugs back to the doctor for personal use. The prescriptions were used during parties at the doctor’s house. Incidentally, the physician officially retired from practicing medicine before his arrest.

A St. Joseph, MO physician was arrested in 2003 for possession of a controlled substance. The physician pleaded guilty in county court. The court placed the physician on probation for three (3) years. The court ordered the physician to complete drug treatment as ordered by the probation department and perform 100 hours of community service.  The physician told the court that he possessed the controlled substance after working a 24-hour shift at a hospital. The physician took fentanyl from the hospital. The physician administered the drug to himself to combat stress and fatigue. The physician surrendered his DEA registration two months after he stole the fentanyl.

In 2005, a federal jury sitting in Missouri found a physician guilty of 176 counts of unlawful distribution of certain narcotics. The government alleged that the 1,729,845 pills the physician prescribed over a two-year period were not prescribed for legitimate reasons. The federal judge sentenced the physician, who was 79 years of age, to sixteen months incarceration followed by two years of supervised release. The judge ordered the physician to pay a $75,000 fine and a $17,600 criminal assessment.  The physician surrendered his DEA registration three months before his arrest.

Also in 2003, a Kansas City, KS doctor of osteopathy pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court to one count of conspiracy and four counts of using an invalid or revoked DEA registration number. The doctor of osteopathy and others agreed to dispense several narcotics including oxycodone and Oxycontin. The doctor of osteopathy wrote those prescriptions for an illegitimate purpose. The federal judge sentenced the doctor to 5 years incarceration with three years of supervised release. The doctor surrendered his DEA registration in 2001, almost two years before his arrest on these charges.

Another Kansas physician was sent to jail for writing prescriptions for fictitious patients. The U.S. District Court sentenced the physician to 30 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute 30,000 units of hydrocodone. The physician claimed he intended to use the pills for himself. The physician surrendered his DEA registration two days after his arrest on these charges.

Personal abuse of narcotics by physicians can also lead to jail and loss of prescription writing privileges.  In 2008, a Missouri physician pleaded guilty to use of drug paraphernalia and driving while intoxicated by drugs. The court sentenced the physician to 24 months of probation and 50 hours of community service. The physician surrendered his DEA registration a few months after his arrest.

Criminal Conduct Leads To Professional Discipline

Most of the criminal conduct discussed above was caused by personal drug use. If you are abusing drugs, get help. Getting the necessary treatment can help you fight disciplinary charges resulting from criminal conduct. Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger zealously represents professional licensees in Missouri and Kansas. Call Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a free consultation and learn how her years of experience can help you put your life back together.

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Explains the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Role In Disciplining Healthcare Professionals

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The Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) is the agency dedicated to enforcing the federal drug laws in the United States. Most people associate the DEA with investigating illicit narcotic distribution. Healthcare professionals with the privilege of writing and dispensing prescriptions know that the DEA has wider jurisdiction than simply investigating street crimes. Any healthcare professional who writes prescriptions, drug distribution centers, pharmacies, and others must register with the DEA before they can write or fill a prescription. The DEA has the authority to investigate and discipline healthcare professionals who violate DEA regulations relating to dispensing prescription drugs. The DEA does not have unlimited power. A practitioner enjoys many due process protections when facing allegations of wrongdoing by the DEA. Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger fights for professional licensees facing disciplinary action.

A licensee’s rights to a fair and impartial hearing when facing disciplinary action instituted by the DEA is protected by the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”), a law passed by Congress delineating the procedures that must be followed in administrative hearings, also serves to protect the rights of a licensee facing discipline.  Due Process Clause jurisprudence and the APA work in conjunction with each other to ensure disciplinary proceedings are decided justly. Federal laws and rules control in DEA disciplinary action because the DEA is a federal, vis-a-vis, state agency.

The Due Process Clause and APA are not idle theories.  A licensee enjoys the protections those laws afford from the inception of disciplinary action. The agency instituting disciplinary proceedings may commence an action only after it gives the licensee proper notice of the factual allegations of wrongdoing.  Proper notice serves to give the licensee an opportunity to challenge the factual allegations and legal basis for discipline.  The factual allegations and legal basis must be timely given to the licensee. The notice, called pleadings, do not have the same rigorous formality of pleadings in a criminal case. Therefore, if a factual allegation arises after the agency initiated disciplinary proceedings, the law permits the agency to rely on such allegations so long as the licensee has a chance to respond timely and fairly to them.

Timely notice of the factual allegations serves a very important purpose. The timely notice of the allegations provides licensees with an opportunity to investigate the claims the Agency made and to prepare a defense. The licensee must be afforded every opportunity to offer an explanation of the allegations. A licensee’s defense is thwarted if they do not have a chance to explain what happened from their perspective.

Litigants must be careful not to waive any objections to late-disclosed factual allegations. A failure by the licensee to object to newly raised allegations indicates that they consent to litigate the new claims of wrongdoing.  The agency has an obligation in the initial pleadings and the pre-hearing statement to set forth all of the factual allegations it will rely on to convince the factfinder that the licensee must be disciplined. The licensee may consent to litigate the unpleaded issue if it is clear from the record that the licensee knew of the allegation and defended against it.  However, an agency’s decision to discipline a licensee may not be based upon evidence of wrongdoing that was incidental to the initial allegations.

Allegations Of Wrongdoing Can Destroy Your Livelihood

Revocation of your DEA registration, or any professional licensing discipline, will wreak havoc on your professional life and has the potential to do the same to your personal life as well. Do not trust your defense to anyone. Call Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule your free consultation if you are a licensed professional facing discipline.

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Explains The Potential Ethical Dilemmas Health Care Professionals Face If A Death With Dignity Statute Passed

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According to Deathwithdignity.org, seven out of every ten Americans favor some death with dignity legislation. California enacted the most recent death with dignity statute. Their law went into effect on June 9, 2016. The statute’s enactment received enormous publicity.  The law on its face appears to conflict directly with a heath care professional’s ethical obligation to preserve life rather than end life. As death with dignity advocacy groups’ message gains momentum, there is a real possibility that other states, including Kansas and Missouri, will pass such laws. Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger understands the ethical obligations of health care professionals. Attorney Sanger zealously represents professional licensee facing discipline against their license.

Kansas and Missouri had bills pending in their respective legislatures seeking to enact a death with dignity statute. Kansas’ Bill was originally filed on January 28, 2015, and referred to a Committee for Health and Human Services. The Committee delayed action on the Bill until 2016. The Bill is no longer viable because of inaction by the Committee, which caused the Bill to miss legislative deadlines and therefore is not viable.  A previous death with dignity bill expired in the legislature in 2013.  A Missouri legislator filed a death with dignity bill in 2015. The Bill was the first of its kind filed in Missouri. The legislature refused to consider the Bill and the proposed legislation lapsed. Notwithstanding, Kansas and Missouri can take the issue up again in the future.

California’s death with dignity legislation purports to guide health care professionals in making decisions consonant with their ethical obligations to their patients, fidelity to the oath they swore, and their moral understanding as humans. Notwithstanding, the law obligates the patient’s physician to give the person the opportunity to change their mind because a request for an aid-in-dying prescription may only be made by the patient, and not via a legal guardian or health care proxy.  The physician must make sure that the patient is of sound mind, or if there is a question, the doctor must make a referral to a mental health professional.  The person must be an adult who has a terminal disease, and the person makes the request voluntarily. The physician must comply with the reporting requirements prescribed by the statute. The physician must ensure the request is in writing on the prescribed form, signed by the patient and two independent witnesses.

The statute specifically protects the prescribing physician from certain civil, criminal, or licensing sanctions.  The health care provider cannot be sanctioned for merely being present when the patient ingests the aid-in-dying drugs. The health care provider may prepare the drugs for the patient but may not administer the drugs. The patient must do that alone. Additionally, a health care provider cannot be sanctioned for diagnosing a person with a terminal disease and informing the patient about the prognosis as long as the physician complied with the appropriate duty of care when reaching those conclusions. The health care provider may not be sanctioned for evaluating whether the patient qualifies for the aid-in-dying prescription.  The physician may provide information about aid in dying drugs without sanction. The physician may also refer the patient to another physician without fear of sanction. The health care provider always has a duty to act professionally and comply with the statute.

Kansas and Missouri Licensing Attorney Ready To Fight For You

Some ethical issues, like issues dignity in death statutes create, are not clear cut. You need a zealous advocate to defend your professional license. Call Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule your free consultation.

Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Explains That Pharmacists Must Follow Ethical Rules To Avoid Disciplinary Action

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The Kansas Board of Pharmacy (“the Board”) is the disciplinary body for pharmacists, pharmacies, distributors, and pharmacy technicians practicing in the state. The Board possesses authority to discipline licensees who run afoul of pharmacists’ ethical obligations. Accordingly, the Board issued several disciplinary sanctions to this point in 2016 against pharmacists, pharmacies, distributors, and pharmacy technicians. Analysis of the decisions the Board issues will assist all licensees who are subject to the Board’s disciplinary power can use previous disciplinary decisions as precedent in future disciplinary action.  Kansas professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger understands the professional and personal strain disciplinary action inflicts upon licensees.

The Board disciplined four pharmacists as of June 2016. In one case, a pharmacist filled a prescription for with the incorrect dosage of the pills. A veterinarian’s prescribed amoxicillin to be administered to a family dog. The pharmacist filled the bottle with 500mg amoxicillin. The veterinarian wrote the prescription for 100mg. The dog fell very ill as a result of ingesting the larger dose. The Board disciplined the pharmacist by ordering him to pay a five hundred dollar fine ($500.00) and attend continuing education classes specified by the Board. Another disciplinary action involved a pharmacist who dispensed two prescriptions with labels that listed the incorrect expiration date. The pharmacist learned of the error and reported it to the Board. The Board fined the pharmacist one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for the errors. Another pharmacist who was in charge of a pharmacy failed to maintain a proper log book. An inspector employed by the Board found that pharmacists failed to sign in on hundreds of occasions. As a result of this failure to follow protocol, the Board fined the pharmacist-in-charge five hundred dollars ($500.00).

The most egregious conduct to come before the Board involved a pharmacist who pharmacist misappropriated prescriptions in Missouri among other serious ethical violations. The Missouri Board of Pharmacy imposed a period of probation upon the pharmacist’s license with numerous conditions. Consequently, the pharmacist was subject to discipline in Kansas as a result of the Missouri disciplinary action.  The Missouri Board of Pharmacy placed the pharmacist on a term of probation with multiple restrictions. The Board adopted the Missouri factual findings. The Board ordered the licensee to comply with the terms of Missouri’s disciplinary action and will reinstate the license to full privileges only if the pharmacist completed the Missouri probationary period. The Board also ordered the pharmacist to attend drug counseling under the Board’s impaired provider protocol.

Also in 2016, the Board issued a decision reinstating a pharmacist’s license to full status. The Board reinstated the pharmacist’s license after the licensee completed the Board’s Impaired Pharmacy Practice Program. The Board ordered the pharmacist to comply with the conditions previously imposed by the Board with the exception of not practicing pharmacy.

The Board disciplined two pharmacies in 2016 in addition to individual licensees. One pharmacy dispensed a prescription with the label missing from the bottle. The pharmacy learned of the error and corrected the mistake. Notwithstanding, the pharmacy failed to file the requisite report with the Board. Consequently, the Board fined the pharmacy one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) for its failure to self-report. The Board disciplined the second pharmacy for its failure to correct a mistake in data entry then filing a deficient report. The Board fined the pharmacy one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) and ordered the pharmacy to file with the Board a corrective action report.

The Board denied several applications for pharmacy tech licenses in 2016 as well. The Board also suspended one such license. The Board denied pharmacy tech applications for individuals who refused fully to disclose the nature and circumstances of prior criminal behavior or misrepresented their criminal history.  Additionally, the Board suspended one licensee as a result of his felony arrest. The Board reasoned that the licensee committed unprofessional conduct as a result of the arrest.

Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Fights For Pharmacists Facing Discipline

 Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger possesses vast experience defending licensees facing discipline. Attorney Sanger stakes her reputation on her vigorous and zealous representation on behalf of licensees faced with losing their livelihood from license loss. Call Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule your free consultation.