Board says suspended doctor posed risk to patients.Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard Dr. Phillip Leveque's medical license was suspended because he posed an "imminent risk" to his patients, Oregon's medical watchdog agency said Friday. "Our medical consultants who reviewed his case felt his care of the patients jeopardized their health and safety," said Kathleen Haley, executive director of the Board of Medical Exam- iners. Leveque is a Molalla osteopath osteopath /os·teo·path/ (os´te-o-path?) a practitioner of osteopathy. os·te·o·path or os·te·op·a·thist n. A physician practicing osteopathy. who has carved carve v. carved, carv·ing, carves v.tr. 1. a. To divide into pieces by cutting; slice: carved a roast. b. out a unique specialty practice in recent years: signing medical marijuana marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. applications. He estimates he's signed for about 4,000 patients in recent years, out of about 7,500 total applications. His practice earned him notoriety NOTORIETY, evidence. That which is generally known. 2. This notoriety is of fact or of law. In general, the notoriety of a fact is not sufficient to found a judgment or to rely on its truth; 1 Ohio Rep. , widespread news coverage and scrutiny from medical regulators. The board disciplined Leveque in May 2002 for failing to meet the standard of care required of Oregon physicians. They suspended his license for 90 days, fined him $5,000 and placed him on 10 years of probation. Since resuming his practice, Leveque said he believed he was following the conditions imposed on his practice. But in placing Leveque's license on emergency suspension Thursday, the board concluded Leveque was "grossly negligent negligent adj., adv. careless in not fulfilling responsibility. (See: negligence) " in his evaluations of certain patients for the medical marijuana program, Haley said. Specifically, they found he approved cards for patients with psychiatric psy·chi·at·ric adj. Of or relating to psychiatry. psychiatric adjective Pertaining to psychiatry, mental disorders disorders and prior histories of drug addiction drug addiction or chemical dependency Physical and/or psychological dependency on a psychoactive (mind-altering) substance (e.g., alcohol, narcotics, nicotine), defined as continued use despite knowing that the substance causes harm. for whom marijuana was not appropriate, she said. Leveque's license is suspended while the board moves to take further disciplinary action, Haley said. Leveque can request a hearing before an administrative law judge administrative law judge n. a professional hearing officer who works for the government to preside over hearings and appeals involving governmental agencies. They are generally experienced in the particular subject matter of the agency involved or of several agencies. , she said. "It's also possible Dr. Leveque would want to retire under investigation or surrender his license under investigation," she said. Leveque said he intended to contest his suspension and pending disciplinary proceeding, for his patients' sake. "I've got 4,000 people who are depending on me, for goodness sakes," he said Friday. "They'll find great difficulty in finding another doctor who is crazy enough to do that." Haley said the board was "absolutely not" trying to make an example of Leveque. "In no way is this a statement on the board's part against the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program," she said. "Rather, this is to make sure patients who are being served under the program are served appropriately and safely." |
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