A pain doctor in Des Moines, Iowa stands to lose his medical licence following the shutdown of his clinic in June 2012 as a result of the Iowa state medical regulators’ board allegation that he used unethical practices and is incompetent. According the Iowa Board of Medicine, Dr. Daniel Baldi, has been prescribing large quantities of addictive, narcotics to patients without properly assessing their need for the drugs. Describing the drugs in one medical malpractice lawsuit filed against Dr. Baldi, as “potentially lethal,” the Board claims that the doctor’s failure to appropriately refill a pain-medication pump led to the death of a patient.
Dr. Baldi Suspended until Medical Malpractice Lawsuits are Settled
Dr. Baldi has been suspended from his job for now and is not practicing medicine until two medical malpractice lawsuits are settled. On October 11, 2012, the Iowa Board of Medicine is scheduled to consider the revocation of the doctor’s medical licence. Dr. Baldi’s defence lawyer claims that his client denies any wrongdoing and claims that Dr. Baldi has a strong defence to the allegations made about his practice. Accused of “indiscriminately or promiscuously” prescribing, administering and/or dispensing drugs “for other than a lawful purpose”, Dr Baldi faces a medical malpractice investigation that may result in complete revocation of his licence to practice medicine.
Other charges Dr. Baldi faces include:
- Failure to document or take appropriate action to assess patients’ need for certain drugs;
- Failure to monitor patients for abuse;
- Failure to take appropriate action when he discovered patients had violated agreements to properly use prescribed pain medications;
- Failure to maintain proper medical records; and
- Inappropriate use of topical pain creams on himself.
With Dr. Baldi’s clinic being one of the few central Iowa facilities that specialises in the treatment of chronic pain, many of the clinic’s patients are finding it difficult to find treatment. And, while the risk of ending up in a legal situation like Dr. Baldi is a risk that pain doctors are aware of, patients in this central Iowa community are having trouble finding a substitute clinic to go to for assistance.
Originally charged with two medical malpractices, Baldi settled one case recently for an undisclosed sum. The settled case involved the death of a 63-year-old woman whose family allege that Baldi mistakenly prescribed a “massive, fatal overdose of narcotics, which was administer through a medication pump.” A second medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Baldi is pending. The second lawsuit alleges that the doctor mishandled the placement of a catheter installed with a medication pump on a female patient just last year. Having sanctioned several physicians in recent years for
the careless prescribing of drugs, the Iowa Medical Board isn’t taking any chances of other incidents occurring in Baldi’s practice.
For Medical Malpractice Legal Assistance, Contact a Personal Injury Lawyer Experienced in Medical Malpractice Law
Doctors have an obligation to take a certain amount of care in the prescription of drugs for patients. If you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a prescription error or other doctor’s failure to provide quality care, contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer for assistance.
