The State Medical Board of Ohio on Wednesday issued a citation letter to Kay alleging he failed to:
• Adhere to minimal standards of care.
• Maintain minimal standards applicable to drug selection or administration.
• Employ acceptable scientific methods in the selection of drugs for treatment of disease.
• Address situations when a patient tested positive for medications inconsistent with prescribed medications.
• Modify patient treatment plans.
• Adequately document in the medical record the medical necessity of prescribed medications.
• Offer, or document offers, to provide reasonable alternatives and treatments to patients.
Efforts to reach Kay on Thursday were not successful. He may request a hearing, and may continue to practice until the medical board issues a final order.
Kay’s practices are not related to the medical board’s efforts to crack down on so-called “pill mill” prescribing practices in Ohio, which play a key role in prescription drug abuse, board spokeswoman Joan Wehrle said.
For example, the medical board on Wednesday suspended the medical license of a Lima doctor, Dr. Douglas B. Karel, after determining he had violated the Medical Practice Act.
Karel had worked at three pain clinics in Scioto County since 2007, with more than 40 percent of his patients coming from out-of-state and complaining of lower back and neck pain. Karel allegedly did not offer treatments such as trigger point injections, instead prescribing narcotics. He prescribed controlled substances to all four of his employees, including a security guard who had been convicted of felony aggravated trafficking in drugs in 2005.
State data show Montgomery County’s accidental drug overdose death rate was 23 per 100,000 people in 2009. That’s twice the rate of Ohio’s other urban counties. Those data are preliminary and do not include out-of-state deaths of Ohioans.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7457 or bsutherly@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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