AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine summarily suspended the license of a Westbrook physician and restricted or suspended the licenses of doctors in Freeport and Jay.
The board on Tuesday summarily suspended the medical license of John Girard, M.D., of Westbrook, according to a release. As a result, Girard can no longer treat patients in Maine.
The board’s action was based on information indicating Girard’s ability to safely and competently practice medicine had been impaired due to mental health conditions, which resulted in his hospitalization, the release states.
The board suspended for 30 days the medical license of Lowell Gerber, M.D., who practices in Freeport. In addition to the suspension, the board reprimanded Gerber and placed him on probation for five years.
The actions were based on Gerber’s acknowledgement that he had a sexual relationship with a patient, according to the release.
In June the board restricted Gerber’s practice pending Tuesday’s hearing, ruling that he could not practice out of his home or without a chaperone.
The decision resulted from information that Gerber was practicing out of his home and had a sexual relationship with a female patient. As conditions of his probation, Gerber must have an adult chaperone present when he treats or examines a female patient, must notify the board of his practice locations, must undergo a psychological examination, take a board-approved ethics and boundaries class, obtain a practice monitor and pay a $1,500 civil penalty.
The board has restricted the medical license of Leslie C. Harding, M.D., who practiced in Jay until closing his practice earlier this year. Harding cannot dispense controlled substances under any circumstances and cannot practice in an independent setting, according to the release.
Harding, who was disciplined by the board previously in 2011, admitted that the board had sufficient evidence to conclude he acted in an incompetent and unprofessional manner while treating a patient whose cause of death was listed as deep vein thrombosis with pulmonary edema due to obesity, with a contributory cause of death being acute intoxication due to multiple prescribed medications, according to the release.