Daily Republic
Fairfield psychiatrist signs disciplinary pact
By Ryan McCarthy
September 19, 2015
FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield psychiatrist whose license was temporarily suspended for the manner in which he prescribed drugs to five patients has reached a settlement with the state.
Dr. William Munn signed the settlement and disciplinary order Aug. 31 and agreed to be bound by the California Medical Board’s decision. The agreement is subject to state review, after which the document will become public.
The agreement canceled an Oakland hearing scheduled to start Sept. 8 before an administrative law judge.
Munn, in private practice since 1972 at his Travis Boulevard office, had said his suspension is detrimental to his 250 patients, who can’t be absorbed by the limited number of psychiatrists in private practice in Solano County.
“I acknowledge the seriousness of this and deeply regret that care provided was not in compliance with the California laws or the standard of care in the community,” he had also written.
Changes to his practice are intended to prevent any recurrence of such events, Munn said.
A 1965 graduate of the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Munn served at Travis Air Force Base in 1965-66 in a medical-surgical internship. He was chairman of the Department of Mental Health at David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Travis from 1971-72.
Daily Republic
State suspends license for Fairfield psychiatrist
By Ryan McCarthy
July 12, 2015
FAIRFIELD — The state has temporarily suspended the license for Dr. William Munn after the Medical Board of California said the psychiatrist, in private practice since 1972 at his Travis Boulevard office, put public health at risk by excessively prescribing drugs to five patients.
Munn disputes any risk to public health and says his suspension is detrimental to his 250 patients, who can’t be absorbed by the limited number of psychiatrists in private practice in Solano County.
The Monday suspension follows a hearing in Oakland and the filing by the state Attorney General’s Office about Munn’s prescriptions for the five patients.
Munn referred to providing one patient “telephone psychotherapy,” said the state filing, which describes the therapy as consisting almost entirely of the psychiatrist refilling prescriptions for large quantities of hydrocodone, a semisynthetic narcotic analgesic, as well as amphetamines and alprazolam, often sold under the trade name Xanax.
Another patient was prescribed large doses of alprazolam even though the doctor saw the person only once and continued to prescribe the drug for almost two years, according to the state.
Treatment of the five patients includes numerous extreme departures from the standard of care, added the state, which sought the license suspension until the Medical Board can ensure Mann safely practices psychiatry.
Dr. Alan Abrams, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, in an expert opinion about the care Munn provided five patients, said the psychiatrist prescribed inexplicably large amounts of alprazolam to one patient.
Medical records Munn provided for one patient were incomplete and Munn said he lost most of the records, Abrams stated.
“Dr. Munn prescribed large amounts of commonly abused prescription drugs to multiple patients – some of whom were known substance abusers – for extended periods of time without adequate clinical evidence, evaluation or documentation of the need for these medications in such quantities,” Abrams said.
The suspension of Mann’s license remains until the state Medical Board makes a final decision. No date has been set for the hearing that will follow by an administrative law judge.
A physician’s complaint to the state board spurred the investigation.
An attorney for Munn said in a June 29 filing about the interim suspension sought by the state that no evidence supports assertions about drug prescriptions.
“The state has not met its burden in establishing with competent evidence that there is a basis to suspend Dr. Munn’s license,” according to the attorney.
Munn continuing his medical practice will not endanger the public, attorney Ann Larson said.
The case involving Munn was opened at the end of 2013, Larson said, and the medical board failed to timely move the matter forward. The state informed Munn in January that the Attorney General’s Office was considering the matter.
More than seven months passed before the state “filed this extreme, career-ending petition against Dr. Munn, based entirely on conduct that is at least one year old,” the attorney said. “Dr. Munn has never had a complaint leveled against him of any kind.”
During more than 45 years, Munn has never been sued for medical malpractice or any other kind of alleged misconduct, the attorney said.
Receipt on June 9 of the Medical Board’s request to suspend Munn’s license came as a complete surprise, said the attorney.
Munn has modified his practices, documented more detailed patient assessments, improved his medical records system and reminded patients about the need to return to the office for follow-up visits, the attorney said.
“Because of his commitment to helping the people of Solano County, his custom and practice has been to accept almost all patients seeking psychiatric care from him, including the complex or acutely ill patients who often have difficulty in securing a psychiatrist to care for them due to their high level of need,” according to the attorney.
Only a handful of private practice psychiatrists are in Solano County and few accept Medicare patients, added the attorney, who said Munn has a very small number of private patients whom he charges $250 an hour.
Reimbursement for Medicare patients is about $147, Munn stated in a declaration that was part of opposition to his license suspension.
Attorney Larson said it’s unlikely enough local private practice psychiatrists are in the county to absorb Munn’s clients.
Munn said he typically sees 10 patients a day during the week.
“Another small, but important part of my practice, is providing psychiatric care to ‘wounded warriors,’ this country’s veterans,” he stated. “I, too, am a veteran and have found that troubled ex-military patients can relate to me because I speak their language.”
The psychiatrist also said that during the Medical Board investigation he became aware of certain inadequacies and flaws in the management of the five patients.
“I acknowledge the seriousness of this and deeply regret that care provided was not in compliance with the California laws or the standard of care in the community,” he wrote.
Changes to his practice are intended to prevent any recurrence of such events, Munn said.
A 1965 graduate of the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Munn served at Travis Air Force Base in 1965-66 in a medical-surgical internship. He was chairman of the department of mental health at the David Grant U.S. Air Force Medical Center at Travis from 1971-72.