OLD TOWN – A Lewiston doctor who was investigated for illegally prescribing medical marijuana to patients at clinics in Old Town and elsewhere will no longer be practicing medicine.
Keng-cheong Leong surrendered his medical license to the Board of Licensure in Medicine in a consent agreement signed December 9, 2014. Leong, who had his practice limited to office-based gynecology in 2011, was issuing medical marijuana certificates to male patients. Dr. Leong practiced in Lewiston, but had been issuing the certificates at clinics in several locations, including the Captain’s Joint in Old Town. Those men were left with invalid certificates after paying for them.
Earlier this year, the Board of Licensure received information that Leong had been issuing the certificates to male patients, had not been performing appropriate examinations, had not been creating appropriate medical records, and had been seeing patients at marijuana dispensaries instead of an office.Leong admitted the board had sufficient evidence from which it could conclude that he engaged in unprofessional conduct, incompetent medical care, and that he violated the terms of his previous agreement.
It was Leong’s second brush with the board in recent years. In 2011, he had his practice limited to office-based gynecology. At that time, he stated he was “naive” when it came to patients requesting narcotics and admitted the Bbard had sufficient evidence from which it could conclude he engaged in unprofessional conduct by prescribing narcotic pain medication without conducting and documenting appropriate medical histories, examinations and plans.
This agreement means that Dr. Leong cannot practice medicine in the State of Maine. Additionally, board disciplinary actions are reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, the Health Integrity and Protection Data Bank, and the Federation of State Medical Boards Action Data Bank. These reports are regularly reviewed by every state licensing board in the country.
The board is made up of six physicians and three public members appointed by the Governor.
The Board of Licensure in Medicine is the State of Maine agency charged to protect the health and welfare of the public by verifying the qualifications of physicians to practice, and disciplining physicians for unprofessional conduct and incompetence. Any citizen can request an investigation of a physician or physician assistant by contacting the Board office by telephone at (207) 287-3608, by letter, or by visiting the Board’s web site.
This action means that Dr. Leong cannot practice medicine in the State of Maine.