BOARD TARGETS MOLALLA DOCTOR

The state Board of Medical Examiners has filed a formal complaint against
Oregon's most prolific endorser of medical marijuana applications, alleging
he engaged in unprofessional conduct by signing them without first
examining patients.

The four-page complaint follows the board's unanimous vote last month to
discipline Dr. Phillip Leveque, a Molalla osteopath. By his own estimate,
he's signed for some 1,800 patients in the last two years - more than 40
percent of all applications signed since the law went into effect in 1999.

The board's complaint went to Leveque's attorney last week and was released
Wednesday to news media.

In an interview, Leveque said he has done nothing wrong and has requested a
hearing before an independent hearings officer to contest the charges.

"If I don't request a hearing they will automatically revoke my license,"
he said. "I was doing everything according to the regulations of the
(state) medical marijuana office, right down from the word go."

The hearings officer will propose discipline to the board, which doesn't
have to follow the recommendation.

The board could revoke or suspend Leveque's medical license. Short of that,
the board could put him on probation, fine him or place restrictions on how
he practices medicine.

Under the law passed by voters in 1998, patients suffering from a
debilitating medical condition are allowed to grow and possess small
quantities of marijuana if their doctor certifies that the drug could help
their condition. Patients must pay $150 for a medical marijuana card, which
is good for one year.

In its complaint, the board said Leveque signed medical marijuana
applications "without examining the patient, conducting medical tests,
maintaining an adequate medical chart, reviewing possible contraindications
or conferring with other medical care providers."

The complaint cites three examples of Leveque practicing medicine "below
the standard of care" that Oregon doctors are required to meet.

Two of the examples involve patients that Leveque never met or examined,
but approved for the program.

The third example quotes a letter Leveque sent to the Oregon Health
Division after it changed the rules to require doctors to conduct physical
exams of patients they approved: "I don't believe ANY physical exam would
detect and diagnose or confirm diagnosis of any" of the conditions that
qualify patients for the cards.

Those conditions include cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, severe pain, severe
nausea, or epilepsy.

The state board's complaint says, "This statement, which is consistent with
his failure to conduct a physical examination for his patients, displays a
lack of medical knowledge and regard for the well-being of his patients."

Leveque said a specialist's expertise is needed to confirm the conditions,
and that he relied on previous doctors' medical charts and, in some cases,
on prescription drug vials patients brought to him.

Until the state changed the rules last summer, the medical marijuana law
didn't require doctors to do the physical exams, he said.

After changing the rules, state health officials gave Leveque's patients 90
days to reapply for medical marijuana cards. Leveque then conducted clinics
all over the state, working six days a week to do about 450 exams in 90 days.

But he didn't get to everybody, and state officials in January sent
rejection letters to 300 cardholders who didn't reapply.