Since its April board meeting, the Texas Medical Board has taken disciplinary action against 71 licensed physicians. The actions included 15 violations based on quality of care; 11 actions based on unprofessional conduct; two nontherapeutic prescribing violations; six agreed orders based on inadequate medical records violations; one action based on…
A new diabetes drug — to be called Victoza if approved — works better than Byetta, a head-to-head clinical trial shows. Byetta is the first of the class of type 2 diabetes drugs called GLP-1 analogs. The drug takes advantage of the body’s own signaling system to increase insulin output…
The Texas Medical Board entered an Automatic Suspension Order against Rodney Norman Dotson, M.D., license number D9988, on Monday, May 4, after determining that Dr. Dotson had violated a previous disciplinary order. The February 8, 2008, Mediated Agreed Order required, among other provisions, that Dr. Dotson take and pass the…
The following is a summary of the changes effective on May 6, 2009. Click here for the complete board rules. Chapter 166, Physician Registration, with amendments to §162.2 Continuing Medical Education, would allow members of the Board’s Expert Physician Panel up to 12 hours of formal continuing Medical Education for…
A bill that was the subject of a 5½-hour hearing would sharply curtail the powers of the Texas Medical Board if it becomes law. Backers argued that it would bring much-needed transparency and provide greater fairness to doctors whom, some say, the board is persecuting. They especially raised concerns about…
Pregnant women who took a popular epilepsy drug, also widely used to treat migraines, pain and psychiatric disorders, had children whose I.Q. scores were significantly lower than those whose mothers took a different antiseizure medication, a new study has found. The drug, valproate, sold generically and under the brand name…
A congressional study and a national consumer advocacy group found that the health care industry in 2004 had spent millions of dollars exaggerating the malpractice crisis in Nevada and elsewhere in the country. But the hard-hitting television campaign of five years ago, helped persuade voters to overwhelmingly approve an industry-backed…
A Staten Island man stricken with polio has won a multimillion dollar lawsuit against a drug maker, claiming he contracted polio 30 years ago while changing his daughter’s diaper. Dominick Tenuto was awarded $22.5 million, believed to be one of the highest awards ever on Staten Island. The lawsuit claims…
The following is a summary of the changes effective on March 9, 2009. Click here for the complete board rules. Chapter 162, Supervision of Medical School and Physician Assistant Student, with amendments to §162.1, Supervision of Medical Students, provides for the supervision of a medical student who is not enrolled…
According to federal drug officials, many doctors may lose their ability to prescribe 24 popular narcotics as part of a new effort to reduce the deaths and injuries that result from these medications inappropriate use. A new control program will result in restrictions on the prescribing, dispensing and distribution of…