NEW: Cranston MD Suspended for Prescription Fraud
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Cranston-based physician Edward L. Cullen, MD, has been suspended from practice by the Rhode Island Board of Pharmacy for prescribing OxyContin and Vicodin for people who were not his patients, among other violations.
According to the findings, Dr. Cullen was found to have done the following:
Wrote prescriptions for OxyContin and Vicodin for "at least two people who were never patients of the Respondent and for whom no patient charts existed";
Did not document "multiple narcotic prescriptions" in medical records;
Failed to meet "the minimal standards of acceptable care for prescribing opioids for patients who are using opioids chronically," including lack of monitoring, paint treatment agreements, and informed consent;
Exhibited a "lack of meaningful physical examinations" including patient history such as documented inquiry concerning alcohol use and suicide risk, as well as what the Board termed "troubling medical decision-making".
The Board also found that a certain patient had received "814 days of narcotics in 356 calendar days."
Doctor Cullen worked at the Garden City Treatment Center, a "free-standing emergency room" located in Cranston, and claims hospital privileges at St. Joseph's Hospital in Providence. His license to practice has been suspended pending review upon his completion of additional training and "any other steps deemed necessary to allow reconsideration" of the Order."
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