Physician Successfully Defended Before Medical Board

Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore for the Defendant

Virginia Board of Medicine

The Virginia Board of Medicine leveled disciplinary charges against our client, a pain management physician, for allegedly excessive and improper prescribing of opioid medications to a patient who had recently completed inpatient detox treatment.

Following a hearing, the Board dismissed all charges. It found that the inpatient treatment records showed only that the patient was opioid dependent, not opioid addicted. As the patient had long-term chronic pain problems, she would be expected to be dependent on opioids to manage that pain. In short, the Board concluded that the physician had exercised due diligence in her pain management practice and had adhered to the Board’s guidelines for opioid prescribing.