Officials: Pain doctor used, shared drugs with patients
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Delaware medical board has temporarily suspended the license of a pain management doctor accused of being addicted to narcotics, sharing opiates with her patients and growing marijuana in her home.
Dr. Eva C. Dickinson operates the pain management clinic Cutting Edge Treatment Center in Harrington, Del.
Dickinson could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The 60-day suspension of Dickinson's Delaware medical license comes nearly four months after Maryland State Police arrested the 48-year-old at her Denton, Md., home on various drug charges. Dickinson's medical license in Maryland was suspended Dec. 28.
According to documents from her license hearing in Maryland, police found two marijuana growing operations in Dickinson's bedroom Sept. 12, along with 22 plants growing in and around the home.
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Police also seized hundreds of prescription medication pills; dozens of belladonna and opium suppositories; empty Fentanyl sublingual spray applicators; and a bottle found in the doctor's pocket containing a variety of opioid medications, including oxycodone and morphine.
Dickinson is charged with five counts of misdemeanor drug possession and a felony count of manufacturing a controlled dangerous substance.
Zachary Reid, a deputy attorney general in Caroline County, Md., called the case unusual.
"You occasionally hear about doctors overprescribing medication," he said. "But not too much about doctors using that medication."
The Maryland State Board of Physicians initially scheduled an interview with Dickinson to discuss her arrest Nov. 17, but postponed that meeting and sent the doctor for drug testing after she showed up an hour late for the appointment, records show.
According to state documents, she was two hours late for the drug test, which indicated the presence of three opioids, including Fentanyl — a synthetic painkiller considered 50 times more potent than heroin and often used by terminally ill cancer patients.
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Dickinson then showed up two hours late for her rescheduled hearing before the Maryland medical board, where she "exhibited erratic, impaired and aberrant behaviors," according to the order that suspended her license.
Dickinson, for instance, claimed the evidence against her was planted and "pointing to a conspiracy," according to the order.
The doctor also reportedly claimed she did not know what marijuana "looks or smells like," despite having previously appeared in a television news segment as the medical adviser for Blue Crab Botanicals, a Maryland company that sought a license to grow marijuana for state-licensed dispensaries.
Robin Hurni, a fellow co-founder of Blue Crab Botanicals, also is facing drug charges after being arrested in November, according to online court records. Her address is listed as the same Denton home as Dickinson's residence.
A spokeswoman for the Maryland medical board declined to comment on Dickinson's case Thursday.
David C. Mangler, director of the Delaware Division of Professional Regulation, also declined to comment.
Dickinson's medical license in Delaware was temporarily suspended Wednesday. The Delaware Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline now has 60 days to determine whether to revoke Dickinson's license permanently, a spokesman said.
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The order granting an emergency suspension of Dickinson's medical license in Delaware includes several additional details and allegations.
That document said the Maryland medical board found Dickinson was addicted to controlled substances, wrote prescriptions for patients who then shared their medication with her and would take possession of her patients' "leftover" narcotics, which she would then "reconstitute into a cream at her residence and sell."
Dickinson, who was given at least 24 hours to respond to the allegations, reportedly claimed she was hospitalized and asked the Delaware board to postpone taking action until she could hire legal counsel.
Despite that request, the board moved to temporarily suspend her license, claiming Dickinson's "continued practice presents a clear and immediate danger to the public health."
Follow Scott Goss on Twitter: @ScottGossDel