AUGUSTA — A Waterville physician has dropped his appeal of a license suspension imposed by a regulatory board which concluded he violated standards of professional conduct by self-prescribing medicine and practicing medicine with drugs in his system.

Paul Gosselin has served the initial 90 days of the appeal and holds an active license to practice osteopathic medicine under conditions of probation. However, it was unclear Friday whether he had restarted his practice, and he did not respond to a phone inquiry.

Gosselin asked a Kennebec County Superior Court judge last summer to lift a board-imposed 450 day suspension while he appealed it or delay it three weeks while he transitioned patients to other medical providers. The judge, however, refused to do so.

“In this case there was competent evidence for the board to conclude that the petitioner practiced medicine after consuming a battery of controlled substances as well as taking medication for which he did not have a valid prescription,” Justice Robert Mullen wrote in his decision.

The state Board of Osteopathic Licensure suspended Gosselin’s license for 450 days effective July 17, giving him one week to transfer his 1,400 patients, most of them receiving treatment for chronic pain.

All but 90 days of that suspension was stayed provided Gosselin met a number of conditions.

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The suspension was in effect July 18-Oct. 15, and caused a flurry of complaints by Gosselin’s patients, many of whom said they had difficulty finding new treatment providers and preferred Gosselin who had treated them well and understood their circumstances. Gosselin’s license is good through May, according to information on the state’s Regulatory Licensing and Permitting website.

The decision to drop the appeal was Gosselin’s said Eric Mehnert, the attorney who represented Gosselin in the appeal.

“Financially he just did not have the ability to continue fighting it,” Mehnert said Friday. “He worked through the system to meet the probation requirements.”

The stipulation of dismissal was signed also by Assistant Attorney General Michael Miller, who directed all questions about Gosselin’s current practice status to Mehnert and Gosselin.

According to the board order issued July 17, in order for the stay of the remainder of the suspension to be in effect, Gosselin had to meet the following conditions: submit a comprehensive evaluation, including substance abuse, mental health, cognitive function and medical treatment approved by the board; submit a treatment plan designed to respond to that assessment; and participate in the Maine Physicians Health Program.

Then Gosselin’s license was to be conditional for five years, requiring monthly reporting by his treatment providers regarding Gosselin’s participation in the treatment plan and monthly report from a practice monitor approved by the board.

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Gosselin too was given a year to pay $3,145.78 in hearing officer costs.

The Board of Osteopathic Licensure considered Gosselin’s case again on Oct. 9, according to the board’s agenda that day; however, no other information was available about what happened.

Gosselin had been before the board on disciplinary matters twice before, state records show.

In 2002, he admitted that he had demonstrated unprofessional conduct by calling pharmacies, pretending to be his own physician’s assistant and ordering prescription drugs, and also responding to an emergency call when not on call and after consuming alcoholic beverages in October 1999, three months after he first was licensed to practice in Maine.

He received another warning in June 2011, when he was ordered to take a course in professional boundaries and undergo a psychological examination after allegations of unprofessional conduct for treating a family member and of sexual misconduct with a patient.

In July 2012, the board ruled that Gosselin had complied with the sanctions in that case and issued a final order that it was satisfied that he “does not pose a threat of harm to the public.”

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Nine months later, Gosselin was charged with operating under the influence of drugs after a traffic accident in Fairfield. He ultimately agreed to a deferred disposition in which he participated in a substance abuse program and had the charge reduced to driving to endanger. Gosselin said he had experienced medical problems at the time of the accident.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams


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