AUBURN – A case of assault against local neurosurgeon Joel Franck has been dismissed after the alleged victim recanted her story, prosecutors said.

Franck, arrested in May on charges of assault, terrorizing and criminal mischief, was scheduled for trial on Thursday. Instead, the case against him was dropped when the district attorney’s office decided there was no longer a strong enough case to prosecute.

“It wouldn’t have survived trial,” said Assistant District Attorney Nick Worden.

Franck was arrested May 4, charged with attacking a woman inside her Webster Street home and threatening her with further violence. Franck, arrested at his Durham home, was on call for medical emergencies at the time, according to jail officials. He was released on $200 bail a half-hour after he was taken into custody.

The woman Franck was accused of assaulting was working in the doctor’s billing office at the time, according to police reports. She did not require hospitalization.

As prosecutors worked on their case over recent months, the victim began to change her account of the encounter with Franck, court officials said. Worden said the woman eventually recanted her story entirely.

Arresting officer Tom Murphy said in his report that he had personally heard the doctor making threats against the woman over the telephone the night of the arrest.

Murphy said Tuesday night that he had not been notified about the dismissal of the case. He described himself as “bewildered” by the development.

Franck, meanwhile, is continuing to operate as a neurosurgeon while his license is being reviewed. According to Randall Manning, executive director of the Maine Board of Licensure of Medicine, Franck’s license expired Aug. 3.

The doctor has submitted a renewal application but the board hasn’t acted on it, Manning said. Manning could not say why the board has not yet acted on the renewal request.

Franck is allowed to continue practicing until the board reaches a decision on his application.

Franck began practicing medicine in Lewiston in 1986, working mostly at Central Maine Medical Center. In 1992, he filed allegations of malpractice against another physician at the hospital and a court battle began.

CMMC administrators accused Franck of improperly disclosing another physician’s patient records. Franck accused the hospital of flinging accusations in order to oust him from the practice.

In 1993, a federal judge ruled that CMMC was legally entitled to expel Franck from its hospital community. The doctor went to work as an independent physician working in the St. Mary’s medical community shortly after.

Franck has at least one patent for a device he co-developed to help treat tremors and other neurological disorders.

Reached by telephone Tuesday night, Franck declined comment on the case.