A Milbridge physician who has said she’ll run against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2020 has been reprimanded by the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine for engaging in unprofessional conduct.
Dr. Cathleen London earlier this month entered into a consent agreement with the board that prohibits her from prescribing methadone and placed her license to practice medicine on probation for an indefinite period of time, according to a media release the board issued Thursday.
Nine complaints concerning London were received in late 2016 and throughout 2017, the release said.
“The complaints included allegations regarding inappropriate interactions with patients, inappropriate interactions with other professionals, inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances, violating patient confidentiality, violating board rules and inappropriate use of the prescription monitoring program,” the board said in announcing the agreement.
London’s attorney, Sandra Rothera of Bangor, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Complaints concerning London’s conduct included her letting her dogs roam the office, criticizing patients’ support of President Donald Trump, violating the rule of the Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Program, and being rude to patients, other physicians and pharmacists.
A review last year of 19 of London’s medical charts by a Maine family practice physician found that: while London “provided treatment to a difficult patient population and ‘did many things well,’” she “inappropriately prescribed methadone for patients with active opioid use disorder, inappropriately prescribed opioids, failed to consistently obtain prior medical records or communicate with prior healthcare professionals and failed to meet recordkeeping standards.”
Conditions of London’s probation include that she undergo a full medical evaluation, obtain care from a board-approved psychiatrist, obtain additional education in recordkeeping and Suboxone treatment, and engage a practice monitor who will monitor her compliance with prescribing and recordkeeping standards. Under the terms of the consent decree, London must also advise all patients that dogs may be present in the office and that the patient may request they be removed prior to or during any office visit. She also must reimburse the board $3,000 for the cost of its investigation.
She has been licensed in Maine since June 2015.
In July, London announced she would run against Collins, a Republican, in 2020. She is a Democrat and the daughter of Hank Greenberg, the CEO of the insurance giant AIG from 1968 until he was forced out in 2005.
London made news in 2017, when she created her own version of the EpiPen after its cost soared to more than $600. She devised her own version for Maine patients that cost $50 with $2.50 refills.
People with dangerous allergic reactions to bees, peanuts and other allergens rely on EpiPens to keep breathing long enough to get to a hospital, according to a previously published report. The medication works in an emergency by temporarily thwarting the severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis.
The Board of Licensure in Medicine is the Maine agency charged to protect the health and welfare of the public by verifying the qualifications of physicians to practice, and disciplining physicians for unprofessional conduct and incompetence. Any citizen may request an investigation of a physician or physician assistant by contacting the board office by telephone at 207-287-3608, by letter or by visiting the board’s website at maine.gov/md.
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