Doctor Whose Patient Died Of Accidental Opioid Overdose Faces Discipline
Dr. Clyde Ikuta prescribed the patient methadone without ever giving him a drug test despite a past history of heroin abuse and continued to refill his prescription even after he said his medication had been stolen five days after it was prescribed, documents say. Elsewhere, another doctor was given five years probation in a different opioid case.
Orange County Register:
Doctor Faces Discipline After Patient Opiate Overdose
An Anaheim doctor faces California Medical Board discipline after a patient he repeatedly prescribed opiates to died of an accidental drug overdose, according to board legal documents made public this week. Dr. Clyde Ikuta is accused of gross negligence in the death of an unidentified 25-year-old man who saw Ikuta for pain from August 2010 to May 2011. ... According to the documents, despite the patient’s history of heroin abuse, Ikuta prescribed methadone without ever giving him a drug test or checking to see if other doctors were also prescribing opiates to him. (Perkes, 7/21)
Orange County Register:
Doctor Sanctioned For Poor Supervision Of Assistant Who Improperly Prescribed Opioids
A Dana Point doctor has been placed on five years probation by the California Medical Board after failing to supervise a physician’s assistant who improperly prescribed opiate painkillers to eight patients, including one with a history of drug abuse.
Dr. Richard Berton Mantell reached a settlement with the board that also suspended him from practicing for 15 days, and barred him from supervising physician assistants or from prescribing certain types of controlled substances. According to the documents, Mantell ran a medical marijuana clinic but was hired to oversee an unidentified physician assistant at another medical office by reviewing and signing his patient charts. (Perkes, 7/21)