LEWISTON – A local neurosurgeon who has worked in Lewiston for nearly 20 years is at risk of losing his medical license.

The Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine confirmed Tuesday that two complaints have been filed against Dr. Joel Franck, accusing him of incompetence and inappropriate conduct.

One of the complaints was filed by a citizen and the other was filed by the licensing board itself, said Randall Manning, executive director of the state board.

Details of the complaints will not become public until about a month before Franck’s hearing, which likely will be scheduled in March or April, Manning said.

An independent surgeon who has worked at both Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center, Franck is free to continue practicing until the hearing takes place.

The hearing will be conducted in a manner similar to a trial, with both sides calling witnesses. Then it will be up to a nine-member panel to decide if Franck violated any of the board’s rules.

If board members find truth in any of the allegations lodged against Franck, they must determine whether to take disciplinary action.

Discipline could include a reprimand, fine, suspension, probation, non-renewal of the doctor’s license or complete revocation of his license.

Made up of six physicians and three members of the public, the members of state Board of Licensure in Medicine are appointed by the governor to protect the health and welfare of the public by verifying physicians’ qualifications and disciplining physicians for unprofessional conduct and incompetence.

Complaints against doctors come from hospitals, other physicians and patients.

Manning could not say who sent the complaint about Franck, nor could he say whether the complaint was related to Franck’s arrest on May 4.

The doctor was on call for medical emergencies when police showed up at his house in Durham to arrest him for allegedly attacking a woman inside her Webster Street home and threatening her with further violence.

The charge, however, was dropped last month after the alleged victim recanted her story.

Franck began practicing medicine in Lewiston in 1986, and he has at least one patent for a device he co-developed to help treat tremors and other neurological disorders.

He has declined comment about the charges against him.