CT medical board disciplines physician assistant for drinking, fines psychiatrist $10K for neglect
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Shelton Herald Online (Connecticut)
June 18, 2024 Tuesday
By Lisa Backus
The state Medical Examining Board agreed Tuesday to issue a $10,000 fine to a psychiatrist accused of failing to properly monitor a patient for years, and to place a physician assistant on probation for the second time based on allegations of excessive drinking that officials contended could affect his ability to safely practice.
The board issued a $10,000 fine to Dr. Barbara Orrok, a psychiatrist with Fair Haven Community Health Center after a state Department of Public Health investigation confirmed that she had not adequately monitored a patient from 2015 to 2021, according to documents.
Orrok failed to adequately maintain medical records on the patient, failed to order regular bloodwork and failed to monitor levels of a drug used for seizures and bipolar disorder, according to a consent order approved by the board Tuesday. She already has completed a two-day course in prescribing practices, DPH documents said. Her medical license was reprimanded as part of the consent order.
The board also agreed Tuesday to discipline a physician assistant who previously had been disciplined for prior use of alcohol, DPH documents show.
The medical license of physician assistant Akiva Bronstein was first placed on probation by the board in 2018 after the DPH investigated concerns in 2017 that Bronstein was using alcohol to excess, documents said. In that case, Bronstein was required to remain sober and pay for weekly urine testing for a year, DPH documents said.
He successfully completed the requirements of the first probation in 2019, a letter from the DPH said.
But by 2020 he was drinking again intermittently until June 2022 when he was charged by police with operating a motor vehicle and carrying a firearm under the influence of alcohol, according to DPH documents. His blood alcohol content after the arrest was 0.3272, “indicating significant alcohol consumption,” the documents said.
That case does not appear on the state judicial branch website, indicating he likely completed a program to have the charges erased.
Bronstein entered treatment the day after his arrest, with DPH documents indicating that he admitted that he had relapses from June 2020 to April 2022 when quit his job as a physician assistant for the “safety” of himself, his family and his patients.
During a hearing on the new allegations of alcohol abuse, Bronstein acknowledged that he “may require monitoring due to his history of alcohol abuse to ensure patient safety,”
The board members who participated in the hearing concluded that although he had sought treatment and had 24 negative urine screenings since his arrest, Bronstein’s “abuse and/or excess use of alcohol affects his practice as a physician assistant,” the document said.
The board agreed to place his license on probation for two years, during which he is required to seek the help of a psychiatrist or psychologist, with the therapist providing monthly reports addressing Bronstein’s ability to practice medicine “in an alcohol and substance free state safely and competently.”
Bronstein also was ordered by the board to submit weekly urine tests and attend Alcoholics Anonymous support group meetings five to six times a week, the document said. He also is required not to ingest any illegal substances or alcohol during the probationary period and submit monthly reports to the DPH on his attendance at AA meetings and the results of his urine screenings.
The same hearing panel of board members determined that Bronstein’s mental health disorder did not impact his ability to practice medicine