Medical Board Suspends North Adams Physician's License
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A local physician had his license summarily suspended last week for posing "immediate and serious threat to the public health, safety and welfare."
According to statement from the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, the disciplinary action was taken against Dr. Shaohua Tang at its meeting Thursday, Jan. 7, in Wakefield and included concerns over the death of a patient from an overdose of fentynal last fall.
The board summarily suspended Tang's medical license for allegedly engaging in substandard care in his treatment of three patients. Tang has the right to a hearing at the Division of Administrative Law Appeals within seven days.
The release did not detail the "substandard care" or the complaints the prompted the review and suspension.
Tang, a board-certified internist, graduated from Guangzhou Medical College in China in 1981. He has been licensed to practice medicine in Massachusetts since 2001 and worked as a solo practitioner with offices as Integrative Medicine at 85 Main St.
The board can suspend or refuse a license if it believes a physician is an "immediate or serious threat" to the public pending a final hearing.
The board found that Tang in three cases failed to keep proper records, failed to properly treat the patients for their conditions and prescribed controlled substances to patients despite behavior that indicated addiction.
According to complaints filed with the board, one patient died of a fentanyl overdose on Aug. 18, 2015. Tang allegedly failed to properly maintain records and treat the patient, a 29-year-old man, for symptoms including bipolar illness, chronic pain and low back pain.
The doctor, according to the board, reduced the patient's fees in return for computer repair services and met with him socially. The patient was being prescribed fentanyl on the days he was doing computer work.
The second patient, a 48-year-old man, was treated for a variety of illnesses between 2012 and 2015. The patient's treatment was allegedly mismanaged and he continued to be prescribed controlled substances despite showing addictive behavior.
The third patient, a 45-year-old man, was treated between 2007 and 2012. He also, like the two other patients, complained of chronic pain and low back pain. The patient's wife alerted the doctor to her husband's misuse of the controlled substances being prescribed but the office's medical assistant prescribed the full amount instead of tapering it off as had been agreed.
The state board licenses more than 40,000 physicians, osteopaths and acupuncturists. It investigates complaints and determines sanctions. More information is available at www.mass.gov/massmedboard, or at 781-876-8202.
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