Embattled Dr. Mark Ibsen closing Helena practice
http://helenair.com/news/local/article_fb7b25fc-5d59-57ca-bfa5-c855a60bce3a.html
Thursday may have been the last day of operation for Urgent Care Plus, which is owned by Helena Dr. Mark Ibsen.
Ibsen said he’ll stay open as long as possible, but he can no longer sustain the business. Saying the clinic has been rendered worthless, Ibsen plans on giving it away to another proprietor, with whom he is in negotiations.
Last month, the Board of Medical Examiners met to discuss potential sanctions against Ibsen for not meeting standards of care in his recordkeeping. The board rejected an order that would have placed Ibsen’s medical license on probation, but two board members said they wanted to suspend his license while the case is resolved.
“That was a very hostile meeting,” Ibsen said. “They pretty much promised to take my license.”
This case began in July 2013, when an investigation into allegations of over-prescribing painkillers began. The order followed four days of hearings last December spawned by allegations by a former employee of Ibsen. More than 20 witnesses testified.
Ibsen says the more than two years of hearings followed by the arduous waiting for word from the Board of Medical Examiners regarding allegations of improper recordkeeping have rendered him emotionally and financially exhausted. His current practice cannot be revived, he said.
“That uncertainty has been rotting the core of my business for years,” Ibsen said.
Because of bounced payroll checks and other issues, the clinic didn’t have enough staff Wednesday to open its doors.
“This is a ghost town here,” Ibsen said, gazing around one of his patient rooms.
A new clinic is expected to reopen in the space in January, he said.
“Essentially, they’re just taking it over,” Ibsen said. “They’re going to try and make it work.”
When at full staff, Urgent Care Plus had upwards of 18 employees, he said. The clinic ran at 39 Neill Ave. for about six years. Ibsen said he averaged about 11,000 patients annually.
“I’ve been anxious. I’ve been not able to make it through a whole day,” he said. “I have to get this stuff cleared up before I can go anywhere.”
At the request of the Board of Medical Examiners, attorneys for the state and Ibsen will continue to draft their recommendations for sanctions against Ibsen before a meeting in January.
The board rejected a 50-page order written by a hearing officer for the Montana Department of Labor and Industry that called for Ibsen’s medical license to be placed on probation for 180 days. The order was submitted in June.
Ibsen said he wishes the board members “would just come down here” to the clinic.
“Well, it’s too late and we’re done,” Ibsen said.
Filed under: General Problems
I listened in to this hearing. And all these people wanted, their only focus, their only goal, was to take Dr. Ibsen’s license. Dr. Feist was the worst. He was out for blood – I’ve never listened to someone so hell bent on destroying another man’s life.
How is it legal to overturn their own previous findings? Apparently the Montana Board of Medical Examiners is ABOVE THE LAW. They certainly are making it up as they go. As citizens, we need to hold them responsible for this move – again, how is any of this legal? It isn’t.
We need to call these people out for their actions. NOW.
State Medical Boards have a lot of power, given to them through state law, but also through the American Medical Association. There’s even a Federation of State Medical Boards. But the drug war has allowed State Boards and the DEA to become partners, and that’s a kind of power that no one has been able to break. Both doctors and patients are helpless, but it’s only doctors who may have the money to fight this power in the courts.
Very sorry to hear about this. Maybe one day, an attorney will be brave enough to sue the DEA for destroying our lives. Let’s see, how many plaintiffs would be a part of that kind of case? Tens of millions?