Psychiatrists to go on strike; Police suspect big drug racket and massive illegal operations

Fron the Times of India

After procuring huge amounts of psychotropic pills from Dr Sudha Vasudev's private clinic at Mullanpur Dhaka and her residence at Rishi Nagar in Ludhiana on Saturday, the Jagraon police have said there is a big racket, and there could be other arrests soon.

Meanwhile, functioning of psychiatry OPDs in hospitals, clinics and nursing homes in Punjab and Chandigarh would be hit on Monday as psychiatrists under Indian Psychiatry Society and Indian Association of Private Psychiatry, Punjab and Chandigarh, have come out in the support of two doctors, arrested by Jagraon police for the illegal sale of psychotropic drugs at their private clinics in Mullanpur Dhaka and Khanna, and have decided to go on a strike on Monday.

"There are not just two doctors. We are getting many other links and it is too complicated. For the time being, we can say that there is a big racket involved, and we are trying to unearth some other important facts. We will disclose it at the right time," said SSP Jagraon, Ravcharan Singh Brar, who raided and arrested Dr Sudha Vasudev, in-charge of a drug de-addiction centre at Mullanpur Dhaka, from a hospital that did not have a licence to run the psychiatry clinic.

It is to be noted that on Saturday, police investigated the residence of Dr Sudha, from where they procured 18,000 more pills and another cache schedule H drugs. "The huge amount of psychotropic drugs and bills show that the company and the doctor had pacts and were doing it for a long time," he added.

According to rules, such drugs are not allowed at the residence of doctors and in private clinics. This is completely illegal, and the search is still on. According to sources, the medicine was Beuprinorphine, which has strong elements to wean addicts from drugs like heroin and smack, but at the same time, it also creates an alternate addiction. Some psychiatrists are still using it. Police said they have also recovered the receipt of Rs70,000 for buying the same drugs from a pharma company in bulk. Previously, on Friday, 3,600 pills were collected from her private clinic.

Presently, Dr Sudha is on two days remand by the orders of the local court, and this may increase as the investigation continues, and layers keep unfolding. She had be charged under three acts - Drugs and Cosmetics Act, NDPS Act for selling illegal psychotropic drugs at a private clinic, and Prevention of Corruption Act for trying to bribe the police to hush up the matter on the spot.

Alabama Psychiatrist Arrested for Drug Trafficking

As seen in this report

FLORENCE, AL (WAFF) - A Shoals area psychiatrist and his wife were arrested in a Huntsville hotel on trafficking charges. Dr. William Roddy and his wife Wendy Sue Roddy were both arrested at the Embassy Suites in Huntsville on Sunday. The two were accused of trafficking a controlled substance, though Huntsville Police would not comment on what the substance was. Trafficking a controlled substance is a felony in the state of Alabama and if convicted a person can serve as much as 20 years in jail for the offense.

also via Psych Search

Huntsville Police Sgt. Mark Roberts says 50-year-old Dr. William Roddy and 43-year-old Wendy Sue Roddy were charged with trafficking in a controlled substance. He says they were arrested on Sunday and were released on $250,000 bail each. Roberts says officers responded to a call about a man with a gun in a hotel parking lot and arrested Roddy. He says a search of Roddy and his hotel room turned up prescription narcotics and thousands of dollars in cash. Police say they searched the couple’s home and found more drugs.

Houston Psychiatrist's License Suspened Over Cocaine Use

As reported by the Houston Chronicle

The Texas Medical Board temporarily has suspended the license of Houston psychiatrist Dr. Eli Anderson, saying he failed a test for cocaine use and his practice represents a threat to the public's welfare.

Agency documents indicate Anderson, 64, pleaded no contest to a third-degree felony cocaine possession charge in June 2005. He was placed on a five-year order of deferred adjudication, meaning that the offense would be stricken from his record if he met probation-like requirements during that period.

In February 2007, Anderson was arrested in Lubbock on outstanding warrants from Clay County. While in custody, Lubbock police lodged other charges against him, including one for possessing drug paraphernalia.

In August of that year, officials of Anderson's employer, the Lubbock Regional Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center, notified the medical board that the charges had led to his dismissal.

In June, Anderson tested positive for a cocaine metabolite.

Medical board spokeswoman Jill Wiggins said the temporary suspension will remain in effect indefinitely. Anderson may appeal the decision in state district court.

Anderson, a graduate of the Baylor College of Medicine, has practiced in Texas 29 years, most recently at 8240 Antoine Drive. He could not be reached for comment.

Reporting Dr. Feel Good

The DEA has a new web site to report all the Dr. FeelGood Psychiatrists, etc.

It's the Office of Diversion Control. To Turn in pharmaceutical pill pushers confidentially CALL 1-877-RX-abuse DEA

This site has a list of arrests of these Dr FeelGood Clones complete with the name and charges that the doctor was settled with.

Psychiatrist's license revoked

A report from The Desert Sun of Palm Springs, California

The California Medical Board has revoked a Coachella Valley psychiatrist's medical license, alleging gross negligence, prescribing drugs to addicts, lying to the board, failing to keep accurate medical records and having sexual relations with a former patient.

Richard Duboe Seigle, who was employed part-time by the county of Riverside from October 2002 to February 2007 and has had practices in Carlsbad and Monterey, can petition in three years for reinstatement, according to the medical board. His license, issued in 1981, was revoked May 30.

When contacted Friday, Seigle declined to comment.

An expert called to testify in May told the board that Seigle's care of one patient "was not the worst example of patient care she had ever seen provided by a psychiatrist, but it was close," according to a 49-page California Medical Board document outlining the case.

Lithium toxicity

Also according to that document, a female patient he began treating in April 2000 had a diagnosis of borderline personality, depression, and possible attention deficit disorder, and said she was taking Thorazine, Klonopin, Prozac and Seroquel as well as several other medications.

Seigle prescribed her Adderall, Ritalin, Depakote, Klonopin, Prozac, Xanax, Effexor XR and Thorazine.

In November 2000, Seigle started her on lithium , but did not get blood and other tests.

"In July 2001, Dr. Seigle noted (the patient) was having difficulty speaking and that her speech was slurred. Dr. Seigle was unfamiliar with the signs and symptoms of Lithium toxicity and despite the clear signs indicating possible Lithium toxicity, Dr. Seigle did not order a blood test to determine (the patient's) Lithium level. At the time, (the patient) was taking somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 mg," the medical board document stated.

When blood tests were ordered by another physician, it became clear her lithium level was 2.2, well into the toxic range.

"Upon learning of the patient's elevated lithium level, Dr. Seigle did not order a further workup; instead he directed that (the patient) discontinue taking lithium for 24 hours and then resume lithium at a dose of 600 mg daily."

The patient stopped seeing Seigle, but the two continued to exchange e-mails. In January 2006, Seigle messaged her that he had been reported to the medical board by a patient who had been on pain medications.

"If you filed with the board, I would not be able to work with poor people anymore. If I lose my license, I would no longer be able to prescribe medications. I see about 15 people a day three times a week. That is a lot of people to help. They feel like you did at one time, that I was the best psychiatrist they have ever seen."

The Desert Sun contacted several psychiatrists outside the case for their take on this incident.

Dr. Donna Mehrejany, who specializes in adult, child and adolescent psychiatry in La Jolla, said: "I don't ever start more than one medication at a time."

As for the lithium: "It's standard practice to obtain lab work when you prescribe a drug like lithium," said Dr. Andrew Elliott, of Palm Springs.

Possible relationship

Seigle is also alleged to have had a sexual relationship with a former female patient who had a history of alcoholism, depression, bipolar mood shifts, suicide attempts and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She was his patient from 1998 to 2002.

In 2004, the two stayed at a bed and breakfast in Idyllwild, attended a tennis match, and visited valley casinos. Seigle also invited her to a beach house in Rosarito, Mexico, where he ordered margaritas, knowing she was a recovering alcoholic.

A psychiatrist who testified about the ethical issues said the relationship "involved several extreme departures from the standards of care incumbent upon a psychiatrist."

Drug Czar Plays Politics With Mental Illness, Suicide And Marijuana

Via Furious Seasons, a report from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. This comment at Furious Seasons hits the nail on the head:

Yes, pot makes people kill themselves. That's such a bizarre assertion that it's embarrassing--and, indeed, claiming pot causes anxiety and suicide while perfectly legal drugs such as Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor and so on have been linked to suicidality and suicides and to cases of very extreme agitation is the very height of hypocrisy. A 2001 study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry found that 8.1 percent of admissions to one hospital's psych unit in a 14-month period were due to "antidepressant-associated mania or psychosis." In fact, a Whether you like or hate pot, you ought to be against the feds making such hypocritical claims or you ought to be in favor of Walters warning parents of teens about the dangers of anti-depressant-caused psychosis. I simply don't know of any studies proving that pot causes suicide. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's highly unlikely that such a link is very strong.

Anti-depressants are much more of a suicide threat.

Psychiatrist investigated for illegal drugs and for giving a false name to police

Report from the BBC

A doctor has denied providing false personal details when he was caught with drugs at a music festival.

Police found 14 ecstasy tablets and small amounts of cannabis resin and amphetamine in Dr Fraser Gibb's car at the event in Dumfries and Galloway.

He told a General Medical Council (GMC) hearing that he initially thought the officers were security staff.

However, the Dumfriesshire doctor said he gave them full and correct personal details. The hearing continues.

Dr Gibb said he was told that if he admitted he had drugs in his possession then they would be confiscated and he could go into the Wickerman Festival in July 2006.

If drugs were found after a search he would be escorted from the premises.

Dr Gibb, 41, kept quiet as officers found the drugs in a black case on the back seat of his silver Hyundai.

Giving evidence, he said he "gradually realised" that he was dealing with police, before the illegal substances were discovered.

Robin Kitching, cross-examining for the GMC, asked: "Why didn't you tell them you had drugs?"

He replied: "I should have said that. I deeply regret it."

Mr Kitching accused him of further deceit by telling the officers his name was Fraser Duncan McKay and his address was The Old Schoolhouse, Steilston, Dumfries, when he had recently moved from there to the neighbouring The Old School.

Dr Gibb, a locum consultant psychiatrist at Crichton Royal Hospital, Dumfries, insisted he gave his full name, Fraser Duncan McKay Gibb.

Personal use

He added: "I gave them the address that all my identifiers were registered to - I told them where I worked.

"I said I was a doctor. I told them things that were likely to get me into trouble."

He was cautioned and later arrested when he admitted to officers the drugs were for his own personal use.

Dr Gibb was convicted at Kirkcudbright Sheriff Court of possessing ecstasy at the event in Dundrennan in July 2006 and was fined £400.

The GMC alleges Dr Gibb's fitness to practise is impaired because of his conviction and alleged misconduct in being misleading and dishonest with the questioning officers.

Murrieta psychiatrist suspected of wrongly prescribing medications

From a report in the Desert Sun

A Murrieta psychiatrist accused of violating federal drug laws for allegedly prescribing pain medications without performing the required medical exams is scheduled to be arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

Joel Stanley Dreyer faces federal narcotics distribution charges for allegedly making prescription opiates like OxyContin and Vicodin, as well as anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax, available to patients in return for a $100 fee -- and free of any diagnostic procedures, according to prosecutors.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office has also charged Dreyer with multiple felony counts of filling false prescriptions.

The 70-year-old psychiatrist, whose license to practice medicine in California has been suspended, was arrested in July on state charges, posted bail, then was taken into custody by FBI agents on Feb. 14 while appearing for a scheduled hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Akrotirianakis said the defendant is free on a $50,000 federal bond but must wear an electronic ankle bracelet with GPS tracking technology at all times.

``He can go to the doctor, attend religious services and meet with his lawyer, but in all instances he is restricted to traveling within the Central District of California,'' which includes Riverside, Los Angeles and Orange counties, Akrotirianakis said.

He said between December 2005 and last summer, it's believed Dreyer wrote thousands of prescriptions for painkillers and anti-anxiety pills.

A joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency, California Medical Board, California Department of Justice and Murrieta Police Department got under way after one of the doctor's former patients died from an overdose of OxyContin on Christmas Day 2005, according to a federal criminal complaint.

The victim's brother, apparently conducting his own investigation, went to Dreyer for painkillers and sleeping aids, which the doctor allegedly prescribed without hesitation, or even a cursory exam, according to the complaint.

Undercover law enforcement agents, posing as patients, visited Dreyer's Murrieta office in 2006 and 2007, allegedly telling him they did not suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, but still wanted something to help them ``relax and decompress,'' the complaint stated.

Some agents requested pain-relieving narcotics -- while admitting they
were not in any significant pain -- and, in both instances, were given what they asked for, according to the complaint.

``Even though they indicated they were not experiencing serious pain, or were actually seeking the drug for another person, they were prescribed the pills in exchange for $100 cash payments,'' Akrotirianakis said.

Dreyer is expected to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Oswald Perata at 3 p.m.

If he's convicted on the federal charges, the doctor could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.

He is scheduled to appear for a felony settlement conference at the county courthouse in Murrieta on April 1.

Psychiatrist pleads guilty to 5 misdemeanor charges

A former Albany Psychiatrist pled guilty to issuing blank prescriptions, and faces only a fine. Prosecutors say they are satisfied that the doctor no longer has his medical license.

Dr. Gerald Dariah pled guilty to five misdemeanor counts of issuing blank prescriptions, or attempting to issue blank prescriptions. He was originally arrested and charged with 67 counts. Under the plea agreement, Dariah will have to pay less than two thousand dollars in fines and court costs to satisfy his sentence. Then his record is cleared under a first offender style program.

Investigators say he signed dozens of blank prescriptions, and would let his staff fill them out for patients.

When he was arrested, Prosecutors say the Board of Medical Examiners suspended his medical license. He did not renew it in 2005.

Psychologist Charged with Manslaughter in Drug Death

As seen in this Legal Blog

Last week Miami-Dade prosecutors charged psychologist Adam Feder with manslaughter in connection with the death of a woman who overdosed on painkillers. Feder was also charged with one count of trafficking illegal drugs and seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance.

Rachel Finzi began seeing Feder after she became depressed over the health of her boyfriend who had been severley injured in a car accident. Two years after Finzi started attending sessions with Feder, she overdosed from painkillers that were given to her by psychologist. The two had also begun dating; Feder was almost 40 and Finzi was 20.

On Monday, Finzi's family announced they were filing a lawsuit against Feder and the clinic he worked at, Compass Health Systems, with negligence. The lawsuit alleges that Feder used his sexual relationship with Finzi "to exert dominion and control over her." The suit also claims that the clinic was negligent because they failed to supervise Feder and let him have access to other doctor's prescription pads that he used to write Finzi prescriptions.

According to the State Attorney's Office, Feder was illegally writing prescriptions to supply Finzi with oxycodone. She died May 24, 2006, at his Miami apartment after swallowing several pills "at the conclusion of a heated argument" over a breakup. Feder told Miami-Dade police that Finzi vomited, complained of hearing problems and slept for much of the next 24 hours, but that he did not call for medical help because "she asked me not to," according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

When police asked Feder why he was illegally writing prescriptions, he claimed to not have a good answer to that. Police also recovered 27 grams of oxycodone and prescriptions in other names in his apartment.

Fake head shrinker to have head examined pending sentencing.

A followup to an odd story from over a year ago:

Fake Head Shrinker Sued for Leaving Mind Unshrunken, and Endangering a Life.

We recently received word that ex-ghost hunter Susan Crites was not only sued, but was charged with crimes, was been found guilty, and was set to be sentenced. But this has been put on hold pending a court order to have the fake head shrinker's head examined.

Here is the news story originally posted December 18th, 2007

The sentencing of Susan R. Crites, the former head of the now defunct Hedgesville-based West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters, was postponed Monday after a judge ordered her to undergo a 60-day psychological evaluation.

Crites, 57, was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of practicing medicine without a license and five counts of practicing counseling without a license in September following a jury trial in Berkeley County Circuit Court. A separate but related charge of delivery of a controlled substance was later dismissed by the state.

Crites had originally been scheduled to be sentenced last Monday but it was continued because Crites’ then-attorney, Heidi Myers, was unable to attend because of a medical emergency.

The court’s order to have Crites undergo a 60-day psychological evaluation came as a surprise to both the prosecution and the defense, which was only made of aware of the evaluation order by Berkeley County Circuit Court Judge Gray Silver III on Monday morning.

“Note my objection on behalf of Miss Crites,” Myers told Silver.

Silver also granted a motion recently filed by Myers requesting she be allowed to withdraw from the case and a new lawyer be appointed to represent the local ghost hunter and published author. Myers filed the motion at the behest of Crites who recently decided to seek new representation.

“My services have been terminated,” Myers said.

Berkeley County Prosecutor Pamela Games-Neely argued that the evaluation and the appointment of a new attorney for Crites would only delay sentencing, further inconveniencing the victims in the case, but Silver supported an objection by Myers, who argued that Crites would need an attorney to be able to present arguments to the court during the sentencing phase.

“Miss Crites is requesting new counsel. I am concerned that the right to counsel is a constitutional right and sentencing is still a critical stage,” said Silver, adding appointing a new attorney for Crites would not delay sentencing since the court intended to order the 60-day evaluation anyway, something Silver said would aid the court in its sentencing.

Crites will now be represented by the Berkeley County Public Defenders’ Office. The earliest Crites might be forced to undergo the evaluation is three weeks. In the meantime, Silver told Crites her newly appointed attorney could present arguments to the court against the evaluation order if she wished.

After granting Myers’ motion to withdraw, Silver was later presented with a motion by Crites she said a friend helped her draft to continue sentencing. She was stopped by Silver, who indicated Crites should wait until her new attorney was appointed before attempting to present an argument before the court.

“We don’t want you putting yourself in a position where you say something that could possibly hurt your case,” Silver said.

No new sentencing date was scheduled Monday. For each of the three misdemeanor counts of practicing medicine without a license, Crites could face fines of as much as $10,000, imprisonment terms as long as 12 months, or both. For the five counts of offering counseling without a license, Crites stands to face fines as much as $500, imprisonment as long as six months, or both.

Actually the West Virgina Society of Ghost Hunters continues under new leadership, it seems. And to their credit they have a full webpage going over all of the gory details of the scandal.

Arkansas Medical Board rules spared druggie psychiatrist a background check

From the North West Arkansas News

The Arkansas State Medical Board didn’t uncover a new doctor’s April drug arrest in Kansas because he already held an inactive Arkansas medical license and renewals do not require fresh criminal background checks, board officials said Wednesday.

Crossett police officers arrested Paul J. Loop, former psychiatrist at the Ashley County Medical Center, on Dec. 3 after they found crack cocaine hidden in a Tylenol bottle in his pocket.

He joined the Crossett hospital’s staff in late November after resigning Aug. 31 from the Colmery-O’Neil Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Topeka, Kan.

A Topeka police officer arrested Loop just before 8 a.m. on April 17 after he found the doctor in a car sleeping next to drug paraphernalia.

Russ Sword, chief executive officer of the Ashley County Medical Center, was unaware that fresh criminal background checks are not required on renewals and questions the board’s process.

“Hospitals depend on the medical board,” Sword said. “If they don’t do anything, what is the point?” Loop, 46, graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 1993. He first earned a state medical license in 1997, according to Peggy Cryer, executive secretary for the Arkansas State Medical Board.

The state board received an application to renew his license on Sept. 26.

Instead of a repeat background check, physicians renewing their licenses are only required to pay a fee and report whether they’ve been arrested or convicted of a crime.

Cryer said Loop reported that he had never been arrested on the renewal form.

Bill Trice, the state board’s attorney, said it’s logistically impossible to run background checks every time a doctor renews his license. There are about 10,000 doctors in Arkansas who must renew their licenses annually.

Also, the Arkansas State Police, the agency required by law to run the checks, does not have the capability to store fingerprints from year to year, Trice said.

“Can you see 10,000 physicians traipsing down to State Police headquarters to do a fingerprint card every year ?” Trice said. “We aren’t trying to stop doctors from practicing.” Lisa Robin, senior vice president with the Federation of State Medical Boards, said no state requires fresh background checks during license renewal because of the logistical challenges.

In fact, only half the states in the country have authority by law to conduct background searches at all, Robin said.

Psychiatrist arrested for crack cocaine possesion.

From the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. With any luck the guy would have been working in the hospitals' drug rehab program.

A south Arkansas doctor — with a previous history of drug arrests — faces two new felony charges after police say he got high and took crack cocaine to work last week. The doctor, Paul J. Loop, has since lost his job at the Ashley County Medical Center. The Arkansas State Medical Board suspended his medical license Friday and will decide whether to revoke it at a February disciplinary hearing.

Center CEO Russ Sword said Loop, 46, joined the Crossett hospital about two weeks ago as a psychiatrist. Crossett is about 10 miles from the Louisiana border.

Police interviewed Loop at the hospital on Dec. 3 after he told another employee that he had used crack earlier in the day, Sword said.

Crossett Police Department Investigator Shelbi Hughes said she found six crack rocks, worth about $ 250, hidden in a Tylenol bottle in Loop’s pocket.

Police also found drug paraphernalia in Loop’s room at the nearby Levee Inn.

Hughes arrested Loop on felony drug possession and paraphernalia charges. He could face up to 40 years in prison and a $ 25, 000 fine if convicted.

“It’s disappointing that he’s probably thrown away his career,” Sword said.

Loop has since posted bail and could not be located on Tuesday. He listed his mailing address to police as West Plains, Mo. Loop also faces charges in Kansas.

Kristi Pankratz, a spokesman for the Topeka Police Department, said Loop faces a pending charge out of her office for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Pankratz said a Topeka police officer found Loop asleep in a car outside a Topeka business just before 8 a.m. on April 17. The officer arrested Loop after seeing drug paraphernalia inside the car.

Court documents containing additional details on the case could not be obtained Tuesday.

The district court office in Topeka was closed due to an ice storm.

Loop worked for a number of years at the Colmery-O’Neil Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Topeka, said hospital spokesman Jim Gleisberg.

Gleisberg said hospital officials knew about Loop’s arrest. He resigned from the hospital on Aug. 31.

Sword said the medical center got Loop’s name through a recruitment agency.

The hospital also relied on the Arkansas State Medical Board to run a background check of Loop’s criminal history.

Sword questioned why the board’s service did not turn up information on Loop’s previous arrest.

“The Crossett cops quickly found out he has a record,” Sword said. “It seems to me that shouldn’t be too difficult to find out.

David Wroten, executive vice president of the Arkansas Medical Society, said all Arkansas hospitals are required to use the board’s service to run background checks and verify credentials.

The checks are considered very thorough.

“ If a doctor had a two-week hiatus between medical school and residency, they find out why,” Wroten said.

Bill Trice, attorney for the Medical Board, said the group’s credential-verification service uses an FBI database to check arrest histories.

The check turned up nothing to disqualify Loop.

Trice said it’s possible Loop obtained his license prior to his April arrest. That may be why the background check did not pickup the April arrest.

He did not know when Loop originally received his license.

Sword said Loop, who graduated from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, had an “inactive license,” perhaps from pervious work in the state.

The board met Friday and approved an emergency suspension of Loop’s medical license, Trice said.

It could vote to permanently revoke Loop’s license at a disciplinary hearing scheduled for Feb. 8.

Anna Nicole Smith's Psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich hit with search warrant

TMZ reports (with video):

California Attorney General Jerry Brown says that he requested the search warrants executed earlier today in connection with the death of Anna Nicole Smith because, he believes, "a serious crime has been committed."

In a press conference just concluded, Brown didn't divulge specific details of what he was looking for, and what crimes might have been committed, but told reporters that "playing with dangerous drugs" can result in death and "prescribing drugs illegally is a crime," and he suggested people should "put it together."

See also our earlier coverage in our own special section dedicated to Khristine Eroshevich

As reported in the SF Chronicle gossip column

Anna Nicole Smith's psychiatrist received a rude awakening on Friday morning when her home was raided by police investigating the death of the tragic model/actress.

California authorities served Dr. Khristine Eroshevich with one of several search warrants as they upped their investigations into the death of Smith, who died of a fatal overdose in a Florida hotel back in February.

Ironically, Smith's longtime companion, Howard K. Stern was with the doctor when the members of the justice department arrived at her home, according to TMZ.com.

Stern was in Los Angeles after appearing on the "Larry King Live" show on CNN on Wednesday.

Eroshevich is also under investigation by the Medical Board of California after admitting to prescribing a haul of drugs for her celebrity patient in the days following her son Daniel's death last year.

See also the Fox News gossip column report

Psychiatrist with drug conviction loses Delaware medical license

From The News Journal

Adam Scioli, a psychiatric resident hired by the Delaware Psychiatric Center in early July who had a previous felony drug conviction in Pennsylvania and a suspended Pennsylvania medical license, lost his Delaware medical license last week.

Scioli had been a resident at Temple University until Nov. 2, 2004, when he was arrested for selling a potential date-rape drug to an undercover police officer.

Scioli was sentenced to two months in jail and then placed on probation until 2010, according to court records. But on July 1, Scioli began a new residency program in psychiatry at DPC.

On Thursday, at a public hearing of a legislative committee investigating DPC, Dr. Gerard Gallucci, medical director for the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, told lawmakers that he had been responsible for hiring Scioli.

After a story about Scioli was published, James Collins, director of the state Division of Professional Regulation, said Scioli’s medical license was “erroneously issued” and may be annulled.

This week the status of Scioli’s Delaware medical license changed from “active” to “null and void.”

“The Division’s proposed course of action to annul the license issued to Dr. Adam Scioli became moot based upon information that Dr. Scioli is no longer employed at the facility for which the license was issued,” Collins told The News Journal in an e-mail.

Scioli’s Delaware medical license, Collins said, was a training license, and therefore was “institution-specific.”

The News Journal has not been able to contact Scioli, despite messages left with his friends and attorney.

Last month, Sen. Robert I. Marshall, D-Wilmington West, sent a letter to the president and members of the Board of Medical Practice and the Division of Professional Regulation, who oversee how physicians and other medical professionals are licensed in the state.

Marshall, a longtime patients’ rights advocate, included draft legislation that could slightly alter the requirements of applicants for physician licenses.

Marshall’s bill would change the wording of the state code governing background checks for physician license applicants, requiring the board to actually possess the applicant’s criminal background checks before issuing a license.

The proposed legislation, Marshall said, would not alter or remove the discretionary power of the board.

“I’m looking forward to early action in January, to see the bill move forward in the Senate, hopefully move through the House, and onto the governor’s desk,” Marshall said last month.

Convicted Psychiatrist loses Delaware Medical License

As seen in this report

Adam Scioli, a psychiatric resident hired by the Delaware Psychiatric Center in early July who had a previous felony drug conviction in Pennsylvania and a suspended Pennsylvania medical license, lost his Delaware medical license last week.

Scioli had been a resident at Temple University until Nov. 2, 2004, when he was arrested for selling a potential date-rape drug to an undercover police officer.

Scioli was sentenced to two months in jail and then placed on probation until 2010, according to court records. But on July 1, Scioli began a new residency program in psychiatry at DPC.

On Thursday, at a public hearing of a legislative committee investigating DPC, Dr. Gerard Gallucci, medical director for the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, told lawmakers that he had been responsible for hiring Scioli.

After a story about Scioli was published, James Collins, director of the state Division of Professional Regulation, said Scioli’s medical license was “erroneously issued” and may be annulled.

This week the status of Scioli’s Delaware medical license changed from “active” to “null and void.”

“The Division’s proposed course of action to annul the license issued to Dr. Adam Scioli became moot based upon information that Dr. Scioli is no longer employed at the facility for which the license was issued,” Collins told The News Journal in an e-mail.

Scioli’s Delaware medical license, Collins said, was a training license, and therefore was “institution-specific.”

The News Journal has not been able to contact Scioli, despite messages left with his friends and attorney.

Last month, Sen. Robert I. Marshall, D-Wilmington West, sent a letter to the president and members of the Board of Medical Practice and the Division of Professional Regulation, who oversee how physicians and other medical professionals are licensed in the state.

Marshall, a longtime patients’ rights advocate, included draft legislation that could slightly alter the requirements of applicants for physician licenses.

Marshall’s bill would change the wording of the state code governing background checks for physician license applicants, requiring the board to actually possess the applicant’s criminal background checks before issuing a license.

The proposed legislation, Marshall said, would not alter or remove the discretionary power of the board.

“I’m looking forward to early action in January, to see the bill move forward in the Senate, hopefully move through the House, and onto the governor’s desk,” Marshall said last month.

Another Psychiatrist Under Investigation Closes Office

From WKRC TV Local 12 in Cincinatti Ohio

A local psychiatrist shuts down his office while state officials are taking a serious look at the way he does business.

Local 12 has learned that, for the last few weeks, investigators from the Kentucky State Medical Board have been looking at the practices of Covington psychiatrist Dr. Douglas Rank.

Allegations have been made against Rank that he over medicates patients, and it's not the first time he's come up on charges.

Local 12's Rich Jaffe says the sudden closing of Rank's store front operation, has left some of his patients wondering what they don't know about their doctor.

Jerry Black showed up today at 12 West Pike Street in Covington, expecting to see his doctor. What he found was a letter saying the office is closed.

Jerry Black, Patient: "Makes me wonder why it's closed, and he didn't tell anybody, didn't send me a letter...makes me curious what he did wrong you know..."

Until recently, Dr. Douglas Rank operated his psychiatric practice out of this store front. His attorney says he advised him to close the doors, while a number of investigations take their course.

An investigation by the Kentucky State Medical Board is based on complaints by Emily Hill that Rank gave her too many drugs. Hill says, with piles of prescriptions, she was sleeping 18 hours a day.

Emily Hill, Ex-Patient: "He just said, well you need these drugs to function, and I said, Doctor Rank I can't function like this. I feel like I'm on too many drugs and he really just kind of blew it off."

Hill's husband, who worked in Dr. Rank's office, says as soon as another doctor took his wife off her meds, she came out of her zombie-like state.

Robert Hill, Patient's Husband: "She starts coming back, recovering, she starts to be the Emily I used to know, and I thought, well gosh, I've got some problems with this you know."

Douglas Rank has been brought up on charges by the Kentucky Medical Board before. In May of 2000, he admitted to having a sexual relationship with a patient... and in November of that year, his license was restricted because he wrote another patient 57 different prescriptions for controlled substances over a 15 month period. As a result of action in Kentucky, he had his license revoked in the state of New York, and Ohio permanently denied him a license to practice in 2003.

"The letter to Dr. Rank's patients on his door says the office is now closed, in the best interest of the patients, he lists a phone number here and since he wasn't available to talk with us on camera we decided to call that number to see what Rank was telling the people who counted on him."

"The office is closed for business in the best interest of our patients. The doctor will call in enough prescription refills for you to find alternate care."

While Rank didn't want to talk with us, a friend and self professed business partner, who's opening an outreach operation in the old office, says Dr. Rank isn't done in Northern Kentucky.

Dennis Northcutt, Noah's Ark: "He's not going to be working straight up forward with us, but he's going to be pointing me in the right direction of how I should get help for people."

Rich Jaffe, Local 12.

We wanted to interview Dr. Rank about these issues, his attorney advised him to decline. As part of his sanctions in 2001, Dr. Rank agreed to probationary terms that included "abstaining from sex with patients, continuing to receive psychiatric treatment, and participation in the Kentucky Impaired Physicians Program. He was also ordered to use a chaperon in all contacts with female patients.

Texas Medical Board suspends license of Psychiatrist Sergio Silva for cocaine use.

From this report in the American Statesman newspaper

An Austin psychiatrist whose license was suspended last fall after a boy he was treating was hospitalized has acknowledged using cocaine but wants to practice again, according to a new order from the Texas Medical Board.

The board last week acted again in the case of Dr. Sergio Silva, indefinitely suspending him from practice and stipulating that he not seek reinstatement before May 11. To regain his license, Silva would have to prove that he can safely practice.

Silva did not respond to a request seeking an interview Friday but said through his attorney, Penny Hobbs of Austin, that the "case was contested" and that the board's latest order represents a compromise.

"He's not admitting or denying" what is outlined in the order, which Silva signed, Hobbs said. "It's a mechanism for him, hopefully, to get his license back someday."

Silva has not practiced since September, when the board temporarily suspended him not only for his treatment of the 7-year-old boy but also for mishandling the care of a housemate. The housemate overdosed on drugs that Silva prescribed, the board determined. It also sanctioned Silva for interfering with that patient's care to the point of losing hospital privileges, for failing to return phone calls to patients and for missing appointments.

In the case of the 7-year-old, the boy's mother told Silva that the child was getting worse while on the Prozac and Strattera that Silva had prescribed. He accused the mother of not complying with his medication orders. Later, he boosted the dosage, which led to the child's hospitalization.

Silva later filed a complaint against the mother with Child Protective Services.

The new order says that from Jan. 8 to 12, Silva took part in the "psychiatric and addictive disease evaluations" at Talbott Recovery Campus in Atlanta. Silva indicated that he had been following a 12-step program since Jan. 22, the order said. Talbott did not recommend that Silva be allowed to resume his psychiatric practice, the order said. It said a Jan. 11 drug screen of his hair was positive for cocaine and two substances involved in cocaine metabolism.

Hobbs declined to comment on specifics in the order.

[...]

The report mentions nothing about possible criminal charges for the cocaine possession.

More in Case of Murietta Psychiatrist Drug Ring

A followup to a recent story, as reported in the Press Enterprise, which also has mugshot photos of the accused.

A Temecula woman and her two adult sons arrested last week on narcotics charges are suspected associates of a Murrieta psychiatrist who was arrested on suspicion of selling prescriptions for addictive drugs, police said.

Murrieta police Lt. Dennis Vrooman said Tuesday that Janine Keating Hall, 45, Saege Michael Hall, 18, and James Dylan Hall, 21, arrested Friday after their Temecula home was searched by police, received unlawful prescriptions from the doctor. They might also have been selling the drugs they received to others and referring potential clients to him, Vrooman said.

Outside their home Monday, Saege Hall declined to talk about the arrests.

Joel Stanley Dreyer, 69, who previously worked with troubled children at group homes, was arrested in July at his home in the Bear Creek area of Murrieta and has been charged with writing unlawful prescriptions.

Police said he had been writing prescriptions for large amounts of drugs such as painkillers Vicodin and OxyContin for $100 apiece. Investigators said he would meet his clients in the parking lots of local businesses, as well as at his office. Undercover investigators were able to purchase several prescriptions from Dreyer in the months leading up to his arrest.

Vrooman said he was unsure how the Hall family became acquainted with Dreyer.

The arrested Hall brothers are known to police. Their father, Mark Hall, is a well-known former ultimate fighting champion.

Both Saege and Dylan Hall were convicted in connection with a 2003 racial attack on a black student at Murrieta Valley High School. A judge ordered Saege Hall, then 14, to serve several months in juvenile hall for felony assault and injuring someone because of race, a misdemeanor. The prosecution in the case had also tried unsuccessfully to remove Saege from his family.

Dylan Hall pleaded guilty to making racial threats in an argument that took place just before the attack and was given six months probation. Since then, he has been convicted of several other crimes including theft, drug possession, burglary and making terrorist threats, court records show. In their search of the family's Calle Pantano home Friday, police found 38 grams of marijuana and an undisclosed amount of Vicodin and Xanax tablets, a police news release said.

Janine Hall was released on bond Friday and Saege Hall on Saturday. As of Tuesday evening, Dylan Hall was still in jail with bail set at $75,000.

The brothers were charged Monday with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale and prescription drug fraud, court records show. Dylan Hall was also charged with three counts of burglary. He pleaded not guilty to all charges Tuesday.

Janine Hall was charged with possession of a controlled substance and prescription drug fraud.

Janine and Saege Hall's arraignments are scheduled for Sept. 21.

Dreyer, whose license to practice medicine has been suspended pending the outcome of the case, was released from jail Aug. 8 after a judge set his bail at $50,000. He had been held without bail since his arrest July 24. No trial date has been set.

3 More Arrested In Connection With Psychiatrist's Drugs-For-Cash Ring

From this CBS 2 report out of LA

hree more arrests were made in connection with an alleged drug-prescription-for-cash ring that authorities say was run by a Murrieta psychiatrist.

James Dylan Hall, 21, Saege Hall, 18, and Janine Hall, 45, all of Temecula, were taken into custody Friday by deputies serving a search warrant in the 29700 block of Calle Pantano, said Murrieta Sgt. Tony Conrad.

Psychiatrist Joel Dreyer, arrested July 24 at his Murrieta home, was charged with five counts of issuing a false prescription. He remains behind bars on $50,000 bail, awaiting a preliminary hearing.

James Hall was booked into the Southwest Detention Center, on suspicion of probation violation and remained jailed in lieu of $25,000, pending arraignment tomorrow.

Saege Michael Hall was booked on suspicion of narcotics possession and was released on $25,000 bail, pending arraignment Sept. 21.

Janine Keating Hall was booked in the county jail on suspicion of drug possession and was released on $5,000 bail, pending arraignment Sept. 21.

Detectives serving the search warrant found 38 grams of marijuana and an undisclosed amount of Vicodin and Xanax tablets.

Investigators determined that Dreyer's prescriptions were being filled at 30 to 40 pharmacies in the Murrieta and Temecula areas, according to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent who attended a hearing last month.

The DEA and state Medical Board began investigating Dreyer after pharmacists noticed seemingly healthy young people coming in with prescriptions for powerful painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs.

Police said an informant went to Dreyer and paid to get a prescription. That was when Murrieta police got involved, and the agencies began coordinating their efforts.

Typically, the doctor would charge $100 per prescription without any kind of examination, said Murrieta police Lt. Dennis Vronman.

Dreyer, 69, worked with troubled teens in group homes, as well as in private practice.

None of the teens was suspected of involvement in the alleged scheme, Vrooman said.