Anesthesiologist can keep license, state panel says

A Spokane anesthesiologist disciplined in 1998 for diverting drugs for personal use can continue practicing medicine, despite violating his sanctions five years later, according to an order from the state health commission.

William L. Weigel will be monitored every three months, face strict medication protocols and pay a $5,000 fine, along with other conditions, according to an agreement negotiated with the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission.

Weigel, 54, was disciplined in 1998 by the Washington Physicians Health Program (WPHP) for diverting fentanyl, a narcotic pain reliever, for personal use, according to commission documents. In 2003, before his sanctions were up, Weigel began dispensing pain medication from a drug cabinet with a key and a combination lock, state officials said.

When two investigators visited Weigel’s office in 2004, they found the drug cabinet open with the key in the lock. They also found discrepancies in the drug log. By having “unfettered access” to controlled substances, Weigel violated his sanctions, the order said.

Weigel’s lawyer, Steven Stocker, said Tuesday that the doctor believed that he had been released from his sanctions by a 2003 letter from the WPHP, not by a 2004 order by the commission. Stocker said the original disciplinary action was not specific enough about the protocols for dispensing drugs.

“This is a clarification of his handling of the medications,” said Stocker, who noted that Weigel’s medical expertise was never in question.

If Weigel violates any of the terms of the order signed last month, he could face suspension of his medical license.

Through the negotiated agreement, state officials withdrew earlier allegations, including a report from a former employee who reported witnessing Weigel slipping syringes of fentanyl into his coat pocket in 2003 and 2004. The earlier charges also alleged that Weigel was coming in at night to draw up doses of drugs, that he was disposing of extra medication himself and that he lied to investigators, telling them he had no access to the drug safe or its contents, documents showed.

Stocker said the state withdrew the charges because they couldn’t prove them and that the employee who made the allegations was a disgruntled former worker. He suggested that the employee’s mental state was questionable.

“The allegations are not unfounded, but they are allegations,” said Michael L. Farrell, a staff attorney representing the state Department of Health.

Weigel works with the Inland Neurosurgery and Spine Association. His lawyer noted that Weigel is a respected doctor who never has endangered the public.

“There was never an allegation that he harmed any patient,” Stocker said.