Virginia Beach doctor agrees to license suspension

VIRGINIA BEACH

A Virginia Beach psychiatrist has agreed to an indefinite suspension of his medical license by the Virginia Board of Medicine, which accused him of inappropriately prescribing powerful narcotics to patients with chronic pain.

Dr. Mohammed Soori is the second Virginia Beach doctor in the past month to face such a sanction over accusations of improperly prescribing addictive painkillers.

Soori was also accused of improper sexual contact with three patients and covering up a prior disciplinary record in Canada.

He avoided a formal disciplinary hearing before the state board last week by agreeing not to contest the accusations. He will not be allowed to apply for reinstatement of his license for three years.

The board accused Soori of prescribing such drugs as fentanyl, methadone and oxycodone - all government-controlled, addictive narcotics - to five patients without medical justification.

Although Soori called himself a pain management specialist, the board said he repeatedly prescribed narcotics without performing physical examinations of his patients, coordinating care with their primary-care physicians, obtaining diagnostic studies, or using drug-screening tests.

In two cases, the board said, Soori carried on sexual relationships with patients while treating them. In a third case, he was accused of engaging in sexual behavior with a patient that included hugging, kissing and other conduct that was "lewd and offensive, " the board said.

He also was accused of continuing to treat patients after testing positive for drug use and agreeing to refrain from practicing medicine.

Several of Soori's former patients who contacted The Virginian-Pilot said he treated them in the condominium off Shore Drive in which he lived.

He did not respond to an interview request for this report.

In a separate case, Dr. Linda Trotman, a Virginia Beach family practitioner, also agreed to an indefinite suspension of her license.

She will be allowed to apply for reinstatement after six months. In an interview, she said she plans to do so.

The medical board cited the cases of three patients in which Trotman allegedly prescribed narcotics and benzodiazepines - used to produce sedation, induce sleep and relieve anxiety - without performing a proper evaluation of the patient, determining the source of the patient's pain, or diagnosing a medical condition justifying the use of such drugs.

Frequently, the board said, Trotman prescribed refills in response to phone calls from her patients and routinely replaced medications reported as lost or stolen. The case against her says she continued to provide narcotics to patients who she knew were abusing them or had become addicted.

Chronic pain management, with its potential for drug abuse, has become an area of increasing concern for state medical regulators.

Earlier this year, Dr. Stephen Plotnick, a Virginia Beach rheumatologist, agreed to give up his license for at least two years after being accused of contributing to a series of patient deaths by improperly prescribing and monitoring narcotics.

Bill Sizemore, (757) 446-2276, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com