A retired physician’s license has been temporarily suspended until a hearing can be held.

LEWISTON – Allegations that a local doctor helped one of his patients attempt to commit suicide is pure nonsense, according to the doctor’s lawyer.

Dr. Stanley Rosenblatt, a retired internist who worked in Lewiston for more than 40 years, has been accused of participating in a patient’s suicide attempt and of acting inappropriately when prescribing medication.

The State Board of Licensure in Medicine temporarily suspended Rosenblatt’s medical license last month after receiving a complaint.

A hearing on the complaint was scheduled for this week, but it was postponed at the request of Rosenblatt’s lawyer, Jack Simmons of Lewiston.

Simmons said he couldn’t describe the exact details of the allegations because he did not want to violate the patient’s confidentiality.

He simply said, “If I was a doctor and I gave you 60 days worth of drugs and you took them all at once, would that be my fault? That’s just stupid.”

In this case, Simmons said, Rosenblatt helped the patient survive the suicide attempt by getting her to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center after she overdosed on drugs.

According to Simmons, the woman had been Rosenblatt’s patient for many years, and the suicide attempt in which he is accused of participating occurred after the elderly doctor had retired.

Rosenblatt reported his retirement to the medical board in 2001 but he still holds a medical license. And, according to Simmons, he occasionally substituted for other doctors who work at public health agencies, such as the men’s state reformatory.

The complaint puts Rosenblatt, who is in his 70s, at risk of losing his license.

The medical board sent the doctor a letter on April 16, informing him of its decision that his “continuing practice of medicine would be an imminent danger to the public” based on the allegations.

The complaint accuses the local internist of “unprofessional conduct, incompetence and inappropriate prescribing of controlled substances,” the letter states.

Randall Manning, the executive director of the state board, said he is barred from discussing the details of the complaint until after Rosenblatt appears before the nine-member board for a hearing.

A date for the hearing had not been set.

If the board members eventually decide that Rosenblatt violated any rules, they must determine whether disciplinary action is warranted. Discipline can include a reprimand, a fine, suspension, probation, non-renewal of his license or complete revocation of his license.

Complaints filed with the medical board can come from hospitals, other physicians or patients. Manning did not say which of the three complained about Rosenblatt.



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