Doctor gives up license, faces narcotics charge
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From: rpautrey2 on 13 Aug 2008 08:17 Doctor gives up license, faces narcotics charge Tuesday, 05 August 2008 By RUSS OLIVO WOONSOCKET — A Lincoln physician with a medical practice in the city has voluntarily surrendered his professional license after he allegedly admitted to federal narcotics investigators that he was writing himself fraudulent prescriptions because he is addicted to painkillers. Dr. Jibran Khan, 51, of 3 Shady Rose Lane, is facing criminal charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession of a habit forming narcotic without a valid prescription following his arrest on Friday. Khan, who lists his specialty as internal medicine, practices from a suite at 20 Cumberland Hill Road, adjacent to Landmark Medical Center, where he enjoyed staff privileges. “He has voluntarily surrendered his license,” said Dr. Robert Crausman, chief administrative officer for the state Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline. “His practice is being covered by colleagues in the community.” Agents of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations searched Khan’s office Friday after receiving information that he was presenting prescriptions in other people’s names to be filled out at pharmacies in Lincoln, a Woonsocket police report says. The report came out of the local police station because Officer Robert Plasse, a city detective, is on loan to an FDA anti- narcotics task force. During the search, the investigators said they found seven Fentanyl transdermal patches - five in Khan’s pockets, one on his desk and another tucked between the pages of a professional journal. Often used to treat patients suffering from cancer or post-surgical pain, Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate similar to morphine and heroin, only more potent. Khan was advised that he did not have to answer questions, but when investigators confronted him about the drug patches he readily provided a written statement indicating “he was dependent on Fentanyl,” the report said. Khan told the investigators he would obtain the drugs by writing out prescriptions for patients that didn’t exist and personally having the prescriptions filled at various pharmacies. Khan said he often went to the Target store at Lincoln Mall and other outlets in town to fill the prescriptions. Khan also admitted that he would “occasionally” pilfer medication from his own patients, according to the report. The FDA agents said the search of Khan’s office also yielded $3,927, all but roughly $200 of which was secreted between the pages of several different issues of a physician’s trade magazine. Following his admissions to the investigators, Khan was arrested and taken to Woonsocket police headquarters for booking. Several hours later, he was freed on personal recognizance pending further action in court. Crausman declined to say when Khan surrendered his license, indicating that he cannot talk about an open disciplinary investigation. He said the board would enter a formal order regarding the status of Khan’s professional license during the next regular meeting of the disciplinary board, on Aug. 13. Crausman said Landmark Medical Center was the only hospital where Khan was listed as having staff privileges. A native of Pakistan, Khan obtained his medical degree from King Edward Medical School in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1982, and later completed his residency at Brooklyn Medical Center in New York. An online profile of Khan says that he speaks Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu, all common to Pakistan and India, in addition to English. The disciplinary board has never previously sanctioned Khan, according to Crausman. Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 August 2008 ) Copyright © 2008 Pawtucket Times http://www.pawtuckettimes.com/content/view/41972/27/ |