AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine on Tuesday ordered an immediate partial suspension of Dr. Harry Peddie’s medical license, effective immediately, pending an adjudicatory hearing on March 14, the board said Friday in a news release.
The suspension prohibits Peddie from prescribing controlled substances for 30 days. Peddie’s most recent work was for a Bangor methadone clinic, according to the order outlining the board’s preliminary findings.
According to the initial findings, the board received reports in September 2016 that Peddie had been been prescribing an anti-anxiety drug for his wife for many years and that he had been self-prescribing two drugs, one for anxiety and the other for anxiety and sleeping problems, for more than 30 years.
The board also received records from a pharmaceutical distributor indicating that Peddie ordered and received controlled substances and other drugs regularly after his clinic closed through at least May 2016.
The board alleged that Peddie falsely stated that none of the controlled substances were for his use or for his family’s use.
The board also alleged that Peddie said that his work for the methadone clinic, which was not identified in the board order, involved performing medical histories and physical exams but that the methadone clinic’s medical director told the board that Peddie prescribed methadone as part of his duties.
After the review, the board concluded that Peddie’s continued ability to prescribe controlled substances represented an immediate risk to the public, the board said in its news release.
According to published reports, Peddie took over the Orono Medical Center, formerly known as MedNow, in 1989 but closed it in July 2012 because the walk-in and primary care facility was losing money.
Also that year, the Maine Human Rights Commission ruled 2-1 that Peddie had wrongly fired a radiographer who had alleged that the Orono facility ran unnecessary tests and billed maximum charges to make extra profit.
In 2011, Peddie opened a walk-in clinic at Orono Pharmacy. It was not immediately clear early Friday evening if a relationship between Peddie and the pharmacy still existed. Walk-in care was not among the services listed on the pharmacy’s website.
All board disciplinary actions are reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank and the Federation of State Medical Boards Action Data Bank. These reports are regularly reviewed by every state licensing board in the country.
The state board consists of six physicians, three public members and a physician assistant appointed by the governor.
Information about disciplinary actions taken by the board are available by calling 287-3601 or visiting its website.