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EUGENE – Dr. Phillip Leveque's medical career, highlighted by a short but storied medical marijuana practice, is probably over.
The state has pulled the license of the 81-year-old osteopath from Molalla, and the nearly 4,000 patients for whom he has signed medical marijuana applications are looking for replacements.
"For sure, there have been other doctors to step up to the plate, but not enough,'' said Todd Dalotto, president of the Compassion Center in Eugene. "Clearly there is a problem with getting enough doctors to sign for patients.''
The center and such advocacy groups as Voter Power and the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Portland and the Alternative Medicine Outreach Program in Roseburg are holding clinics at which doctors examine patients and sign applications.
As of Oct. 1, 1,496 doctors had signed applications for 9,758 patients, according to the state Oregon Medical Marijuana Program.
Dr. Leveque did nearly half that many himself in five years.
Word spread fast when Oregon's medical marijuana law took effect in 1999 that Leveque was the man to see.
Sometimes he signed applications for far-flung or disabled patients without meeting them.
This drew the attention of the Board of Medical Examiners, which in May 2002 suspended his license for 90 days, fined him $5,000 and placed him on 10 years probation.
Leveque resumed his practice, working with the advocacy groups and signing applications after a physical exam of patients by a nurse-practitioner.
His photograph appeared in ads in alternative newspapers under the headline, "Dr. Leveque says, 'Cannabis gives the best relief.'''
Last March the Board of Medical Examiners again suspended his license, saying he posed a risk to his patients and was negligent in evaluating some patients for the medical marijuana program.
The board said he approved cards for patients with psychiatric disorders and prior histories of drug addiction for whom marijuana was not appropriate.
In October the board revoked his license to practice medicine in Oregon and fined him $5,000.
He can apply to get his license back in two years and has until Dec. 13 to file an appeal. He says he will.
"Please understand me, I'm not paranoid,'' he said. "I know these people have been out to get me from the word go.''
Leveque said before signing applications, he would confirm the diagnosis made by other doctors, which is what he believed the Board of Medical Examiners required him to do.
"Trying to make believe I'm a cancer specialist or an HIV specialist is totally fallacious,'' he said. "I have to rely on previous physicians' records.''
Leveque is working as a medical records clerk, and relishing his 15 minutes of fame.
"My agent is trying to get me on 'The Montel Williams Show,''' he said.
By The Associated Press
https://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/12/03/news/oregon/wedsta04.txt
The state has pulled the license of the 81-year-old osteopath from Molalla, and the nearly 4,000 patients for whom he has signed medical marijuana applications are looking for replacements.
"For sure, there have been other doctors to step up to the plate, but not enough,'' said Todd Dalotto, president of the Compassion Center in Eugene. "Clearly there is a problem with getting enough doctors to sign for patients.''
The center and such advocacy groups as Voter Power and the Hemp and Cannabis Foundation in Portland and the Alternative Medicine Outreach Program in Roseburg are holding clinics at which doctors examine patients and sign applications.
As of Oct. 1, 1,496 doctors had signed applications for 9,758 patients, according to the state Oregon Medical Marijuana Program.
Dr. Leveque did nearly half that many himself in five years.
Word spread fast when Oregon's medical marijuana law took effect in 1999 that Leveque was the man to see.
Sometimes he signed applications for far-flung or disabled patients without meeting them.
This drew the attention of the Board of Medical Examiners, which in May 2002 suspended his license for 90 days, fined him $5,000 and placed him on 10 years probation.
Leveque resumed his practice, working with the advocacy groups and signing applications after a physical exam of patients by a nurse-practitioner.
His photograph appeared in ads in alternative newspapers under the headline, "Dr. Leveque says, 'Cannabis gives the best relief.'''
Last March the Board of Medical Examiners again suspended his license, saying he posed a risk to his patients and was negligent in evaluating some patients for the medical marijuana program.
The board said he approved cards for patients with psychiatric disorders and prior histories of drug addiction for whom marijuana was not appropriate.
In October the board revoked his license to practice medicine in Oregon and fined him $5,000.
He can apply to get his license back in two years and has until Dec. 13 to file an appeal. He says he will.
"Please understand me, I'm not paranoid,'' he said. "I know these people have been out to get me from the word go.''
Leveque said before signing applications, he would confirm the diagnosis made by other doctors, which is what he believed the Board of Medical Examiners required him to do.
"Trying to make believe I'm a cancer specialist or an HIV specialist is totally fallacious,'' he said. "I have to rely on previous physicians' records.''
Leveque is working as a medical records clerk, and relishing his 15 minutes of fame.
"My agent is trying to get me on 'The Montel Williams Show,''' he said.
By The Associated Press
https://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/12/03/news/oregon/wedsta04.txt
