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News Release — February 22, 2007
MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA
February 22, 2007
Medical Board of California Accusation
Leads to Surrender of Lafayette Physician's License
SACRAMENTO—Facing an Accusation by the Medical Board of California alleging unprofessional conduct, Lafayette physician Joel Alan Gross, M.D. has surrendered his license to practice medicine. The stipulated surrender of his license was ordered on February 14, 2007 and became effective on February 21, 2007. Medical Board Executive Director Dave Thornton stated, "The mission of the Medical Board is to protect healthcare consumers. We work diligently to achieve our mission by vigorously enforcing the Medical Practice Act."
The Medical Board accused Gross of forging prescriptions to obtain controlled drugs for his own use in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11173(a) and Business and Professions Code section 2238.
In June 2006, the medical director of the emergency department at Sutter Delta Medical Center received a call from a local pharmacy to verify a Hydrocodone prescription for Gross by a physician who had not worked at the medical center for approximately 10 months. When questioned, Gross admitted to the medical director that he had been forging prescriptions for himself. A review by a Medical Board investigator of Gross' patient prescription profile at a local pharmacy revealed that Gross had forged extensive prescriptions for the controlled substances Ambien and Hydrocodone dating back to November 2004.
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The mission of the Medical Board is to protect healthcare consumers through the proper licensing and regulation of physicians and surgeons and certain allied healthcare professions and through the vigorous, objective enforcement of the Medical Practice Act.
If you have a question or complaint about the healthcare you are receiving, the board encourages you to visit its Web site at www.mbc.ca.gov or for questions call the Consumer Information Line at (916) 263-2382, or with complaints call (800) 633-2322.
For up-to-date information on board activities, please join our "Subscribers' List" at www.mbc.ca.gov/subscribers.htm.
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