SAN DIEGO PHYSICIAN PLACED ON PROBATION

2 Patients Died While Addicted To Pain Pills

A Sunset Cliffs doctor has admitted that he overprescribed pain pills
for three of his patients, including two who died while they were
addicted to the powerful narcotics.

Dr. Miles Stanich has been placed on three years' probation by the
Medical Board of California and ordered to take refresher courses on
prescribing drugs and on record keeping. Stanich also must find
another physician to monitor his practice during his probationary period.

In reaching a settlement with the Medical Board, Stanich said he
considered what was in the best interest of his patients.

"The agreement doesn't interfere with my ability to take care of my
patients," he said in an interview.

The board accused Stanich last year of negligence, incompetence and
unprofessional conduct in connection with writing hundreds of
prescriptions for painkillers for patients he knew were addicted to the drugs.

Advertisement In the accusation filed in Administrative Law Court,
the board said Stanich "prescribed controlled drugs to a known
addict" and that he wrote hundreds of prescriptions without
documenting a medical necessity.

Deputy Attorney General Steven Zeigen said physicians have a
responsibility to recognize addictions in patients being treated with
the powerful pain drugs.

"What we sought to ensure in the Stanich case is that a physician who
prescribes to chronic pain patients appropriately documents the
treatment so that there are assurances that the medication is being
both prescribed and used appropriately," Zeigen said.

Stanich, who has been licensed in California since 1973, said a
doctor treating any kind of disease has that responsibility.

"Pain is a disease and we must remember that treating it with the use
of opiates has some peril that the patient can become addicted," he
said. "So you treat pain with the same caution that you treat other diseases."

Stanich allows that doctors who treat chronic pain fall under greater scrutiny.

"There is clearly a controversy in the use of opiates, and that has
to be balanced against people with a need," he said.

One of the patients who died while under Stanich's care was Julie
Kantor. Her sister said Kantor was in drug rehab trying to kick her
dependence on painkillers while Stanich continued prescribing
narcotic painkillers such as OxyContin, Roxicet and Endocet.

Another patient, Thomas Hargrove, died while visiting his family in
Montana. Hargrove was found with an empty syringe of oxycodone in his
hand, in a room strewn with empty bottles of other painkillers and
psychotropic drugs.

The deaths mirror a national trend that fatalities linked to
prescription drugs are increasing while deaths caused by illegal
drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine are decreasing.

The accusation against Stanich also highlights a polarizing debate
between drug regulators and pain-management doctors over how strictly
regulated these narcotics should be and how much latitude doctors
should have in prescribing them.

The Medical Board said Stanich must enroll in the refresher classes
by May 20 and provide proof that he has successfully completed the
courses within six months.

The physician who is assigned to monitor Stanich must submit reports
every three months to the Medical Board assessing his performance and
whether Stanich is practicing medicine safely.