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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Deer Park doctor’s medical license suspended

A Deer Park osteopathic doctor was informed by the state Thursday that his medical license has been suspended because of allegations that include prescribing narcotics to known drug abusers.

Keith L. Hindman, who runs Shepherd’s Staff Foundation Medical Clinic at 855 S. Main St. in Deer Park, was suspended from practicing medicine on Wednesday, said Deanna Whitman, state Department of Health spokeswoman. The suspension was effective immediately because his alleged actions may endanger patients, she said.

“Once we started seeing a pattern, we realized that this was a major concern for the safety of the public,” she said.

Hindman has 20 days to respond or the state will take final action on his license, Whitman said.

Attempts to reach Hindman, who specializes in treating pain, were unsuccessful Thursday afternoon.

Whitman said the Department of Health received its first complaint about Hindman in September 2004. Additional complaints have been filed since, and court records show that the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency searched Hindman’s office in September as part of an investigation of illegally prescribed drugs and insurance fraud. The warrant allowing the search remains sealed.

No federal charges have been filed against Hindman, who has said the allegations are false in court documents.

Hindman, who was born in 1940, has been prescribing narcotics “without a justifying diagnosis to known drug abusers,” according to the Department of Health document that suspended his license.

The state also accused Hindman of prescribing drugs “without appropriately treating the underlying condition.” For instance, Hindman prescribed an 85-year-old man “increasing amounts” of a pain medication for pain in his “lower extremities” without examining the man’s foot, documents say. This delayed the diagnosis of an ulceration and put the patient at risk for needing an amputation.

Three people have sued Hindman for malpractice this year. The three claimants say they became addicted to narcotics after Hindman over-prescribed drugs. The lawsuits also say Hindman did not warn them of the risks of using the drugs.

In response to one of the suits, Hindman wrote that he could not afford an attorney because he was without malpractice insurance and has no significant assets.

“My medical equipment is old and used. My home is fully mortgaged. I have an old boat that is not running, one old car, and a 2003 Buick on which I am making payments,” he wrote.

He also said his care “met all the accepted pain management standards.”

“If the patient is now an addict, she was either already an addict when she came to us or had a preexisting addiction potential,” Hindman wrote. “She received frequent education about the warning signs of addiction.”

A physician assistant at Hindman’s clinic, Steven Featherkile, also is named in the suits. Featherkile’s license has not been suspended, but the Department of Health is examining two complaints against him, Whitman said.