Saturday, February 02, 2013

California Psychiatrist Suspended for Missing his Own Mental Exam

As seen in this report from The Marin Independent Journal

The state medical board suspended the license of a Mill Valley psychiatrist Thursday for failing to show up for a mandatory psychiatric examination. The board ordered Dr. Brent Taylor Cox to get the test last year after a complaint that he "may be suffering from a substance addiction disorder and/or other mental impairment that may affect his ability to practice medicine safely," according to board documents. The board said Cox did not arrive for his scheduled exam, even though it sent him notices by certified and first-class mail to three addresses and emailed the notice to his Gmail account. The board also sent an investigator to his addresses to serve the letter, but "no one answered the door," board documents said. Regulators moved to discipline Cox, and he appeared for a hearing in November with his attorney, Mitchell Green of San Francisco. Cox agreed to a settlement in which the board suspends his license and gives him 30 days to get the psychiatric testing. Green said the whole dispute exists because Cox never received the initial order to get the psychiatric exam. Cox was in the middle of changing his office location at the time and was no longer using the same Gmail address, but he neglected to update his email address with the board, Green said.
Hat tip to PsychSearch.net for the story