According to a law-firm blog reviewing news coverage and Medical Board of California disciplinary records, an anesthesiologist at UC San Diego Medical Center acknowledged a long-running addiction to sedative drugs that he obtained from hospital supplies and from patients' doses, reportedly dating back to his residency. The blog reports that between 2017 and 2020 the physician described this history in board proceedings.
The board's accusation, as summarized by the blog, alleged that the physician administered anesthesia while impaired and substituted saline for medications such as morphine and fentanyl in approximately 800 patient cases, with some patients reporting awareness during surgery and complications. The accusation also reportedly cited falsified medical records.
The Medical Board issued an interim suspension of the physician's license in September 2017 and revoked the license in April 2018. The blog notes that detection of this type of conduct typically depends on direct observation, patient complaints, discrepancies in drug logs, or discovery of tampered medications. The blog states that it attempted to verify these facts but that they may be inaccurate.