Doctors from Miami to Pace accused of sexual assault, drug dealing, deadly surgery
Addiction, deaths and fraud among the state’s doctors are among the discipline documents from the Florida Department of Health and the State Board of Medicine posted in September and October.
In alphabetical order:
Dr. Rene Capulong, Orange City
The Department of Health filed an order to Capulong, originally licensed in 1973, to submit to a mental and physical exam on Sept. 21, 2020. Capulong didn’t show up.
So, the Board of Medicine hit him with a letter of concern, an administrative fine of $1,000 and suspended him “until such time as he demonstrates the ability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety.”
Dr. Chaim Colen, West Palm Beach
As detailed in a Miami Herald story, Florida suspended the neurosurgeon’s license after Michigan suspended it for “Negligence-Incompetence” with five patients.
Dr. Kathleen Cullen, Seminole
Florida filed an administrative complaint against Cullen’s license after the Medical Licensure Commission of Alabama, where Cullen is also licensed, disciplined her.
The commission reprimanded her; fined her $10,000; put her on probation; and restricted her from having a collaborative practice agreement with, employing or supervising an advanced practice provider. The agency said although Cullen contracted with Bronson Medical for telemedicine services, she did no physical examinations and never spoke directly with patients. A nurse handled all of that communication and Cullen’s oversight of the nurse “consisted solely of periodic chart reviews.”
The Alabama body also said in its final order that Cullen was “uncooperative, evasive, slow to respond to the Board’s legitimate requests, delayed the proceedings without cause, and failed to show for the November 2020 hearing despite having adequate notice.”
The Board noted that the Cullen-Bronson arrangement and ordering of genetic and medical tests were “consistent with known healthcare fraud schemes.”
But when the Board subpoenaed Cullen and Bronson for records that might be evidence about such fraud, they weren’t able to do so.
“The Commission suspects that these omissions were intentional but, without the records, the Commission is not reasonably satisfied that substantial evidence exists to prove whether Dr. Cullen committed fraud herself, or whether she was the unwitting accessory to fraud by Bronson Medical,” the final order reads.
Cullen has been licensed in Florida since May 25, 1996.
Dr. Raul Davila Correa, Fort Myers
Davila Correa’s license got hit with an emergency suspension order (ESO) on Oct. 7 that suspends his license to practice as a medical doctor. That stems from charges of sexual assault with no physical force and two counts of battery that threaten to suspend Davila Correa’s freedom.
Online Lee County jail records say 66-year-old “Raul Davila” was arrested on those charges on Aug. 17 and posted $30,000 bond on Aug. 18.
The ESO says during a July 6 visit in Fort Myers Pines Medical Center in Fort Myers, Davila Correa told “K.P.” to lay face down on a table and used a massage fun on her back and the backs of her legs. While in the latter region, the ESO says, he “pressed the massage gun between Patient K.P.’s legs and onto Patient K.P.’s vagina.
Though startled, K.P. thought it might’ve been an accident.
But, later, the ESO says, Davila Correa “slid his hand underneath the back of Patient K.P.’s pants” then “reached his hand between Patient K.P.’s legs and onto her vaginal area” and put a finger or fingers into her vagina.
K.P. said “No,” and got up to leave.
“Before Patient K.P. was able to exit, Dr. Davila Correa ushered Patient K.P. into his office and asked her to keep what occurred a secret,” the ESO says. He “told Patient K.P. that what happened was her fault because ‘she is so beautiful’ and that he would try to control himself at future appointments.”
Media reports say the battery charges are from two other patients’ accusations of improper conduct.
Dr. Omar Garcia, Kissimmee
Garcia was found guilty in Chicago federal court of six counts of healthcare fraud and sentenced in February to 18 months in federal prison. Garcia’s license is revoked.
Dr. Juan Martinez-Alvarado, Mulberry
An administrative complaint has been filed against Martinez-Alvarado. The Professionals’ Resource Network (PRN) is the state’s program for monitoring and assisting “impaired practitioners.” Five months into a two-year monitoring contract, Martinez-Alvarado moved to Puerto Rico in December 2020.
PRN asked him to withdraw from practice because it couldn’t monitor him while he was in Puerto Rico. Martinez-Alvarado did so, then told PRN he’d be staying in Puerto Rico “for the foreseeable future.” PRN terminated the the monitoring contract, which triggered the filing of the administrative complaint.
Dr. James Megargel, Old Town
The Florida Board of Medicine fined Megargel $1,000 and suspended him until he “demonstrates the ability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety,” which includes a positive evaluation by the Professionals’ Resource Network.
Florida says the State Medical Board of Ohio and Megargel agreed on a permanent license revocation via an Entry of Order. That “resulted from [Megargel] violating a previous Consent Agreement ratified by the State Medical Board of Ohio regarding [Megargel’s] chemical dependency issues.”
Dr. Chester Messick, Pace
An ERO filed on Sept. 27 says Messick was placed on emergency medical leave at West Florida Hospital on April 5 after “staff observed recent chances in Dr. Messick’s behavior and appearance, including appearing forgetful and mis-prescribing medication to a patient.”
Messick was referred to PRN. Dr. Michael Herkov evaluated Messick and thought his “cognitive abilities were impaired across a wide range of functions, including orientation, attention, working memory, processing speed, learning, motor skills and executive function.”
Messick admitted using attention deficit disorder drug Adderall, social anxiety drug Venlafaxine; tamsulosin, which keeps the prostate from getting too large; prostate shrinkage drug finasteride; and anxiety drug lorazepam (brand name: Ativan). All drugs had been prescribed by a nurse practitioner in his office.
After urine, blood and hair testing, Dr. Derek Robben diagnosed Messick with moderate alcohol use disorder; recurrent major depressive disorder; neurocognitive disorder; amphetamine use disorder; and sedative use disorder. Robben also advised Messick go into a residential treatment program.
Messick hasn’t done that. So, the ERO prohibits him from practicing as a medical doctor until PRN or a PRN-approved evaluator tells the Department of Health that he’s safe to practice again.
Dr. Cornelius O’Leary, Orlando
O’Leary pleaded guilty in Newark federal court to conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud. His admission of facts says while a consultant for Telemed Health Group, which you might know as “AffordADoc,” and other companies, they submitted more than $18.8 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for “orthotic braces that were medically unnecessary, ineligible for Medicare reimbursement or not provided as represented.”
O’Leary was also part of a $2.8 million fraudulent claims submission to Medicare for genetic cancer screening and tests. Medicare paid for the orthotic braces, but not the tests.
The Florida Department of Health has filed an administrative complaint against O’Leary, who is also licensed in New York and California. He’s awaiting sentencing.
Dr. Robert Pendrak, Palatka
The Florida Department of Health filed an administrative complaint against Pendrak’s license, which he’s held since 2002.
The complaint says during a Department-ordered evaluation with a doctor specializing in addiction, Pendrak admitted a “significant history of alcohol abuse resulting in serious health complications.” And the doctor diagnosed Pendrak with severe alcohol use disorder, unable to practice medicine safely.
Pendrak didn’t take the doctor’s recommendation to enter into residential detoxification and monitoring by PRN.
Dr. Saad Sakkal, Milton
Though Sakkal is licensed in Florida, the nation’s pill mill capital, he ran his pill mill out of Lindenwald Medical Association in Hamilton, Ohio, from February 2015 through December 2016. From his indictment in Cincinnati federal court:
His diagnostic notes were “often copied, superficial, non-targeted and generally unhelpful.” His examinations were facile, his medical history checks and treatment plans almost non-existent.
“Sakkal’s treatment of patients focused on prescribing opiates without regard to any improvement in function or quality of life and without regard to critical risk factors (including mental health and co-morbid illnesses).”
Addicts knew where to get their fix. They’d wait in the parking lot for Lindenwald to open then endure long waits to see Sakkal. Lindenwald employees noticed the change in the clinic’s customer base and mentioned it to Sakkal, who ignored their concerns and the eight deaths of patients from “complications resulting from drug use (often involving both prescribed and not-prescribed drugs).”
Some pharmacies stopped filling Sakkal’s prescriptions. So, “on Dec. 31, 2016, Sakkal organized and led a small group of his patients on a series of protests at local pharmacies, demanding in each instance that pharmacies continue to fill Sakkal’s prescriptions.”
Sakkal was convicted on one count of illegal distribution of a controlled substance with a death specification; four counts of illegal distribution of a controlled substance and 26 counts of illegal distribution of a controlled substance.
The administrative complaint filed Sept. 24 against Sakkal is the first step to license revocation. It might be a formality — his federal Bureau of Prisons entry says his release date is July 13, 2035. He’ll be 87.
Dr. John Sampson, Coral Gables
The emergency restriction order on Sampson’s license says Seduction Cosmetic Center, 4950 SW Eighth St., told the Florida Department of Health that “Dr. Sampson was practicing at Seduction, but not performing surgical procedures.”
Sampson was supposed to be the Designated Physician. As detailed in a Miami Herald story, the ERO says not only did he perform “unauthorized plastic surgery procedures from April to June of this year, but his mistakes during a Brazilian butt caused a 33-year-old woman’s death.
The stories part of Seduction’s Instagram page lists Sampson among its doctors and shows photos of women that the center indicates were his patients.
Dr. Jorge Szauer, Coral Springs
One of the reasons Szauer is prevented from doing laparoscopic surgery, as told in a Miami Herald story, is he was supposed to remove an appendix and took out inflamed fat.
