On July 14, the Washington State Medical Commission suspended the medical license of Frank Li, MD, the medical director of Seattle Pain Centers, for failing to properly monitor powerful opioid prescriptions that possibly contributed to 18 overdose deaths since 2010, according to The Seattle Times.
Seattle Pain Centers consists of eight pain clinics that serve up to 25,000 people. The actions taken by state health officials bar Dr. Li from billing Medicaid and prohibit five physician assistants to practice under his authority at Seattle Pain Centers. According to the Seattle Times, state health officials have launched investigations into, or filed complaints against, more than 40 healthcare providers and physicians who have worked for the pain centers since 2013. Dr. Li has 20 days to respond to the charges and request a hearing.
The pain clinics which serve eight different cities in Washington — Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Poulsbo, Vancouver, Renton, Everett and Spokane — will not be immediately shutdown.
Micah Matthews, deputy director of the state's Medical Quality Assurance Commission, told the Seattle Times, "There shouldn't be an immediate disruption. We're planning for the worst possible scenario, but we don't expect the clinics will be immediately shut down."
According to officials, Seattle Pain Center patients were prescribed opioids in abundance and with little supervision, which may have resulted in some of the medication being illegally sold on the street. The alleged freewheeling prescribing practices of Dr. Li may have contributed to 18 overdose deaths of Medicaid patients between 2010 and 2015. According to Mr. Mathews, dozens of other opioid deaths may also be linked to the prescribing practices of Dr. Li and the Seattle Pain Centers.
Diversion investigators from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration recently visited Dr. Li's clinic in Renton, though the DEA could not be reached for comment on the nature of the visit, according to the Seattle Times.
"I guess what I would call it is classic 'pill mill' behavior," Mr. Matthews told the Seattle Times.
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