The Roanoke Times carried an interesting article in today’s paper. The article detailed how the Virginia Board of Medicine had recently disciplined 5 Roanoke area physicians for violations of various Board of Medicine regulations.
The most interesting part of the article is that many of the violations dealt with the improper use and prescription of medicine. Dr. Mark Greenawald, chairman of the department of family medicine at the newly opened Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the director of medical student education at Carilion Clinic, was reprimanded for violating standards for prescribing controlled substances. Dr. Greenawald was reprimanded for wrongly prescribing two versions of the sleep aid Ambien to two patients.
The second disciplinary action of interest involved Dr. Robin Minks, a neurologist who worked for Carilion Clinic in 2006. Dr. Minks was found to have abandoned his patients after closing his Christiansburg neurology practice in March 2009 without notifying anyone or giving patients access to their medical records. Dr. Minks cold not be located by the board investigators and did not appear at the hearing in which the board voted to revoke his license.
My Take: Be an informed consumer of medical care and research your doctor BEFORE you place your health and welfare in his/her hands.