Judge acquits Florida doctor charged with medical cannabis fraud

A Florida doctor accused by the state of failing to adequately screen patients before ordering them medicinal cannabis prescriptions was acquitted by a judge on Wednesday.

The Tampa Bay Times reported that an administrative judge ruled that Joseph Dorn, a Tallahassee doctor, “did nothing wrong” when he was the subject of two undercover investigations.

Last month, in its written recommendation to Administrative Judge W. David Watkins, the state Department of Health proposed a series of harsh penalties against Dorn: a permanent ban on ordering medicinal cannabis for patients, a $10,000 fine, and a five-year suspension of Dorn’s license to practice medicine.

But on Wednesday, according to the Tampa Bay Times, Watkins “entered an order recommending that the complaint against the doctor be dismissed and said that health officials in this case have not produced competent substantive evidence to establish that Dr. Dorn acted or failed to act in any way to deceive or trick a patient, or that a patient was actually defrauded or tricked.’”

The allegations against Dorn, who has three decades of experience as a Florida doctor, stem from his interactions with two different undercover patients, referred to as “patient OG” and “patient BD” in the state’s complaint against the doctor.

The Department of Health said Dorn failed to perform physical exams on “Patient OG” and “Patient BD,” the News Service of Florida reported last month, going so far as to accuse Dorn of having a “trick or plan” in it to have used his practice.

“Rather than acknowledging that responsibility, the interviewee (Dorn) used his designation as a qualified physician to liberally qualify patients to use medical marijuana, providing only cursory consultations and ignoring many of the requirements imposed by the legislature,” the attorneys for the Department of Health in its recommendation to the judge last month.

But on Wednesday, Watkins said the state lacked the evidence necessary to back up those claims.

“The evidence of the records undermines the DOH’s argument that the practice of Dr. Dorn is nothing more than an ‘open gateway’ to medical marijuana. In both the OG and BD cases (and presumably the other 28 patients studied), Dr. Dorn performed a detailed and thorough assessment of the patient’s condition before prescribing medical marijuana,” wrote Watkins, as quoted by the Tampa Bay Times. “Furthermore, the preponderance of expert substantive evidence in this case demonstrates that Dr. Dorn conducted a meaningful review of the medical history and symptoms of OG and BD, identified and discussed their qualifying stressors, and noted the PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms to be experienced by each.”

The ruling comes as a vindication for Dorn, whose attorney Ryan Andrews said last month that the state “has presented no evidence to support its claim” and that the Department of Health “does not know what the health benefits or risks of the medicine are marijuana.” .”

On Wednesday, the Times reported that Andrews “threatened to take legal action against the health department and officials involved in the complaint against his client.”

“This action did not sound in good faith and now it is our turn to seek justice and right this wrong against all involved. This whole action against Dr. Dorn is an embarrassment and a disservice to the state of Florida. dr Dorn looks forward to continuing to treat patients without these baseless and damaging allegations hanging over him,” Andrews said in a statement.