Doctor agrees to revocation

BISMARCK — A Fargo doctor will agree to be permanently stripped of his North Dakota medical license for sloppy handling of addictive painkillers and overbilling the state’s Medicaid program, his attorney says.

Dr. Rodney Lee wrote prescriptions for narcotics for his patients in good faith and for medically justifiable reasons, Lee’s lawyer, John Goff, of Fargo, wrote in a letter to a state administrative law judge who is handling Lee’s case.

However, Lee acknowledges that “some of those patients may have, and probably did, use the controlled substances in ways that were not intended by Dr. Lee, and may, in fact, have redistributed or resold the controlled substance to others,” the letter says.

“Dr. Lee does not object to the permanent revocation of his license to practice medicine in the state of North Dakota,” the letter says. “However, Dr. Lee submits that none of the relevant conduct was done with any intent to harm or negatively impact any patient, or the public.”

The administrative law judge, Allen Hoberg, is holding a hearing Wednesday on a state Board of Medical Examiners complaint against Lee. The board suspended Lee’s license when its complaint was filed July 18.

Duane Houdek, the board’s executive secretary, said the Wednesday hearing will be held anyway to establish the truth of the board’s allegations.

“You still put on the evidence to show the judge that there is a basis for your allegations,” Houdek said. “It is obviously not as protracted, or contested, as you would have if you had to call all the witnesses, and they were subject to cross-examination ... You still have to show that what you are alleging is true.”

Goff’s letter to Hoberg says neither Goff nor Lee will attend the hearing to contest the board’s complaint. Lee also acknowledges the board may hold him responsible for paying the cost of the disciplinary proceedings, Goff’s letter says.

Lee formerly operated a group of RapidCare medical clinics in Fargo, Grand Forks, Moorhead, Minn., and Detroit Lakes, Minn. Lee sold the clinics after his medical license was suspended.

In its complaint, the board accused Lee of routinely signing blank prescription forms for assistants to use in prescribing narcotics to patients, and of storing returned drugs in an unlocked drawer in his office.

The complaint says Lee billed Medicaid for services that were actually provided by physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners who worked for him. Medicaid, which is a medical assistance program for the poor, pays 25 percent less for services performed by physician aides, the complaint says.

Lee prescribed narcotics to patients after urinalysis reports showed they did not have the drugs in their systems, or that they had taken illegal drugs, the complaint says.

Tags: healthcare, lee, doctor, rapidcare