A Miami doctor prescribed opioids, possibly without examination, state complaint says
A longtime Miami-Dade doctor prescribed opioids and other addictive drugs without proper examination, patient history check or discussing the risks of the drugs — or at least documenting that he did any of that — a state complaint alleges.
The administrative complaint against Dr. Francisco Gonzalez-Abreu is the only entry under Discipline/Administrative Actions on his Florida Department of Health online license profile, which also says Gonzalez was first licensed Sept. 13, 1976. An administrative complaint starts the discipline process that can end with punishment from the Board of Medicine.
READ MORE: A Miami doctor’s license has been suspended. He’s been in prison nine months
When a Miami Herald reporter called Gonzalez’s office, the person who identified herself as the office manager refused to put Gonzalez on the phone. Two emails went unanswered.
Examination, documentation and prescriptions
The complaint describes Gonzalez’s prescribing actions with four patients. For each, the complaint says Gonzalez:
▪ Didn’t perform or didn’t record performing a complete examination and medical history.
▪ Didn’t perform or didn’t record performing a “history of substance abuse and risk assessment for use of controlled substances.”
▪ Didn’t get or didn’t document getting, informed consent, “including a discussion with the patient of the risks and benefits in using controlled substances.”
▪ Didn’t create or show “a treatment plan that included objectives to determine the success” of using an opioid.
▪ Kept medical records that were described as “illegible at times and incomplete.”
As for what Gonzalez was prescribing for these patients, he showed a fondness for alprazolam, the generic name for Xanax, and the opioid oxycodone.
▪ A 44-year-old patient had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, herniation and had the bone that covers the spinal canal in the neck removed. The complaint says he came to Gonzalez from May 3, 2017, to Dec. 17, 2018, complaining of back pain, difficulty walking and anxiety. The complaint says Gonzalez prescribed 30 mg doses of oxycodone HCL and 2 mg doses of alprazolam. In addition to the above deficiencies, the complaint says Gonzalez showed that he made timely checks on how well the treatment was working.
▪ A 79-year-old woman with a medical history that included a stroke, mental illness, high blood pressure, leg and back pains came to Gonazalez complaining of back pain, difficulty walking and memory loss. The complaint says, from Dec. 18, 2017, to Aug. 26, 2020, Gonzalez prescribed her 30 mg doses of oxycodone HCL and 2 mg doses of alprazolam.
▪ A patient showed up on June 14, 2017, and kept coming back until Dec. 1, 2021, the complaint said, claimed pain while walking. For those three and a half years, the complaint said, Gonzalez prescribed oxycodone, alprazolam, promethazine-codine syrup (another opioid), and zolpidem-tartrate, the generic name for sleep assist drug Ambien.
▪ For a patient with back pain and difficulty walking who he’d been seeing since 2016, the complaint says, Gonzalez prescribed temazepam and alprazolam from Aug. 23, 2018, through Oct. 12, 2022.
This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 7:28 AM.
