Tennessee Department of Health disciplinary action against healthcare professionals in November | Lifestyles

The Tennessee Department of Health released its most recent health permit procedures, including a handful of practitioners from northeast Tennessee with drug abuses. They include:

Dr. Andrew N. Brown, Piney Flats

Violation: Unprofessional, unethical, or dishonorable behavior; make false statements or representations.

Action: Licensed reprimanded; must prove the completion of a three-day medical course “intensive course medical documentation”; The estimated cost cannot exceed $ 10,000.

Establishing facts: Brown was a senior physician at Williams Primary Care in Kingsport when the FBI was investigating patient records. Officials said Brown signed 10 medical records showing that he had checked the prescribing documents when in fact it was not.

Dr. Whitaker M. Smith, Kingsport

Violation: Unprofessional, dishonorable, or unethical behavior; habitual intoxication or personal abuse of drugs or stimulants in a way that adversely affects the person’s ability to practice medicine; Dispensing, prescribing or otherwise dispensing controlled substances that are not medically necessary, advisable or justified for a diagnosed condition.

Action: Licensed reprimanded; The defendant is required to get involved in TMF with reports to the board of directors every three months, must inform certain health care providers of the discipline, must not prescribe opioids for six months, and must not work with advanced nurses or medical assistants for dispensing opioids for at. work together for at least six months and, by the end of the prescribing course, take a course on Medical Ethics Boundaries and Professionalism, complete a prescribing course, pay civil fines of US $ 5,000; and the cost cannot exceed $ 3,000.

Establishing facts: Smith worked for the Mountain Regional Family Medicine Group, where he had to be examined because of a pattern of missing workdays and a complaint about alcohol abuse. Smith was also accused of writing ADHD medication prescriptions for relatives as well as for a patient he was in a relationship with.

Gianfranco Capasso, RN, Unicoi

Violation: Refusal to undergo a drug test or a positive drug test with a government or private preset or a confirmed drug test ordered by the employer; and guilty of unprofessional conduct; that is, being under the influence of alcoholic beverages or drugs that impair judgment while serving in a health facility, school, institution or other workplace.

Action: License suspended with conditions; civil penalties imposed of US $ 1,000; plus costs not exceeding $ 5,000.

Establishing facts: Capasso was found to be working under the influence of alcohol at Franklin Woods Community Hospital.

Melvin K. Kitts, RN, Bristol

Violation: is addicted to alcohol or drugs, so that the duty of care is impaired; and is guilty of unprofessional behavior.

Action: Voluntary submission of the license to practice nursing, equivalent to revocation.

Establishing facts: Kitts was accused in August 2020 of diverting narcotics for his own use while at the Bristol Regional Medical Center. He had had several previous violations of the same nature, but had successfully completed the necessary treatment for his license to be restored.

Andrea L. Marshall, RN, Bristol

Violation: Is guilty of a crime.

Action: Voluntary relinquishment of their multi-state privilege to practice nursing under the Tennessee RN license, as well as revocation.

Establishing facts: Marshall was working in the oncology department at Johnson City Medical Center when a patient accused Marshall of replacing oxycodone with Pepcid because he was in pain after taking the administered drug. Marshall was given a drug test and admitted he was positive for hydrocodone and morphine.

Robin Oaks, RN, Kingsport

Violation: is guilty of unprofessional behavior, ie: intentionally or negligently inflicting physical or emotional harm on a patient; fail to take appropriate measures to protect the patient from incompetent health practices.

Action: Trial period not less than six months. Multistate privilege is deactivated. Complete 10 additional credit hours for advanced training, ie: at least one hour each in medication administration and care for psychiatric patients; and any remaining CE hours must relate to one of these subjects. Civil penalty of $ 100 plus costs not exceeding $ 1,000.

Establishing Facts: Oaks was working as a psychiatric nurse at Frontier Health’s acute mental health and substance abuse facility in Gray when she was giving the wrong medication to a patient. Due to the mistake, the patient fell out of bed, hit his head and was taken to Johnson City Medical Center for treatment. Oaks told authorities she misread the label.

For detailed information on disciplinary measures, please visit the Tennessee Department of Health website at https://apps.health.tn.gov/Licensure/default.aspx then enter the person’s name. When the license information is displayed, click either “Disciplinary Action” or “Adverse License Action” in the right column.

All actions against licensed healthcare professionals are public knowledge in Tennessee.