Physician’s License Suspended

The West Virginia Board of Medicine suspended the medical license of a Dunbar physician, pending his completion of an ethics course.

In January 2006, Dr. Robert Lee Hively agreed to complete a course on “ethics and patient boundary issues” by mid-July, but failed to meet the deadline. In a Nov. 13 order, the Board of Medicine suspended Hively’s license for that failure. Hively can reactivate his license if he completes the course.

The board issued eight other recent decisions:

* Dr. Robert D. Hoeldtke had his clinical privileges suspended at West Virginia University Hospitals in April for violating an agreement “relating to a medication regimen for psychiatric illness.”

Hoeldtke, who returned to work at WVU Hospitals in August, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The board’s order requires Hoeldkte to comply with pharmacotherapy programs until December 2009 and file reports with the hospital and board.

* Dr. Phillip Bradley Hall of Flemington, near Clarksburg, entered a Williamsburg, Va., center for “treatment of opioid dependency” in July 2005.

The board is requiring Hall to submit monthly post-treatment reports, cooperate with random urine tests, “abstain completely from any mood-altering chemicals” and attend Alcoholics Anonymous/ Narcotics Anonymous meetings three times a week.

The board reactivated Hall’s license in October 2006 and required him to work under a supervising physician for two years.

* Dr. Arnold Felipe Gruspe of Weston ceased performing any surgery as of July 1 and retired from his medical and surgical practice on Dec. 31.

A May 2005 complaint filed by Kerry D. Hamrick alleged: “Gruspe failed to provide quality care in connection with surgery performed on her mother, leading to her premature death.”

The board’s order requires Gruspe to take 50 hours of continuing medical education classes if he wants to reactivate his license.

* Dr. Isabel Cristina Del Toro – who lives in Low Moor, Va. – had her West Virginia medical license reactivated after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation in October, at the Board of Medicine’s request. That evaluation determined she “suffers from depression,” but is able to practice medicine.

Del Toro agreed to continue “regular care and treatment for her depression” until Dec. 15, 2008, and to inform the board about her treatment.

* Dr. Breton Lee Morgan of Point Pleasant surrendered his medical license last March, but had it reinstated “on probation” until December 2009 after receiving “treatment for chemical dependency” at the Talbott Recovery Center in Atlanta.

Morgan agreed to receive continuing treatment and to “refrain from ingesting alcohol and poppy seeds” as well as other “mood- altering … psychoactive drugs.”

* Dr. Helen Rose Ruiz Remolona of Charleston reported she completed required CME classes about end-of-life care and pain management, but had not taken those classes. The medical board took no action against her license, but fined her $200.

* Dr. Kevin Blankenship of Morgantown was supervising the work of physician assistant Jason Kiss, before the Board of Medicine licensed Kiss to provide medical care to patients. The board reprimanded Blankenship, who agreed to comply with all rules about physician assistants in the future.

* Jason Kidd applied for his physician assistant license in September, after he began working at MedExpress Urgent Care in August. The medical board “publicly reprimanded” Kidd for practicing without a license, which he has since received.

(c) 2007 Charleston Daily Mail. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.