The Mississippi Board of Medical Licensure suspended the license of prominent Jackson psychiatrist Dr. Timothy Summers last year. An investigation determined Dr. Summers was writing illegal prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances. Dr. Summers agreed to a consent order that suspended his license for one year. However, the suspension was shortened to six months if the doctor met certain conditions. His license was reinstated after six months although the Board permanently banned him from writing prescriptions for controlled substances. The suspension began on September 20, 2018. He now lives in Meridian.
Jonathan Dalton, Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure Investigations Supervisor, submitted an affidavit that told the tale of how Dr. Summers wound up in trouble in trouble with the Board.
MBN contacted Dalton after an agent discovered Dr. Summers was writing controlled substance prescriptions with a prescription pad "for a facility where he was no longer employed." Dalton checked the prescription monitoring program (PMP) and discovered a number of prescriptions issued from May 2016 to May 2017 that were "deemed outside the normal scope of a Psychiatrist" such as opiods and cough syrup.
Dr. Summers practiced in Meridian. However, several patients who lived in Jackson traveled to Meridian to obtain the prescriptions in question. An agent tried to contact the wayward Doctor in May 2017 at his cell phone number but no one answered. The home and office phone numbers were not valid. The agent and Dalton visited his home in Jackson but no one answered the door. They finally reached him on his cellphone and tried for over a week to set a meeting with Dr. Summers. He told the investigators that he would meet with them at the office of his attorney, Dennis Sweet. They told him to bring his records for inspection.
A meeting took place at Mr. Sweet's office on May 1, 2017 but the attorney told them his client brought no patient records nor would he allow them to review said records. He said such a review would violate HIPPA. Sweet said the Board could not review the records absent the submission of a patient complaint. Dalton disagreed with Sweet and said the Board was exempt from HIPAA as a healthcare oversight agency.
Dalton obtained a search warrant for Dr. Summers' home on June 15 after he saw a moving truck in the driveway. Dr. Summers didn't like this one bit and told Dalton his presence was "outrageous." The psychiatrist produced some, but not all of the records:
Licensee proceeded to his master bedroom and retrieved the files from a box. After retrieving records for all but Patients 7 and 8, we returned to the living room to fill out the Acknowledgement and Receipt of Items Seized. Licensee carefully went through the files retrieved and marked them off the Master Patient List. When finished, Affiant inquired as to the whereabouts of the charts for Patients 7 and 8. (KF: Hmm.... wonder if they are related, as in mother and son.). Licensee hesitated and stated he would not discuss anything until he could speak with his counsel. Affiant took the time to explain to Licensee that he had been served a duly authorized search warrant and he was being afforded every opportunity to produce the records indicated. Further, if Licensee did not produce the records indicated, the Board would not accept records produced after the warrant service, as their authenticity would be suspect. Licensee stated the moving truck had to leave at this time. Affiant told Licensee that Affiant would wait all night but Licensee needed to produce the records immediately. Licensee refused to do so and, further, refused to sign the Acknowledgement and Receipt of Items Seized. The entirety of the warrant service lasted approximately forty-five (45) minutes.
Another search warrant was executed upon his former Meridian employer. The CEO of Alliance Health Center said none of the patients on Dr. Summers' master patient list ever visited Alliance. Dr. Summers left Alliance in May 2013. He later worked at East Mississippi State Hospital until November 2016. None of the his patients on the list were treated at EMSH.
The affidavit provides a glimpse into how Dr. Summers treated patients on the master patient list. The list states Dr. Summers provided 60 pills of Narco on December 29, 2016 and 60 pills of Tylenol #3 on May 10, 2017 to Patient #7. Patient #8 received 27 prescriptions from 2014 to early 2017 for adderall, ativan, and lorazepam. All but one of the quantities prescribed were 60 pills for a total of 1,620 pills. The affidavit posted below provides more evidence of the white-coat drug-dealing for other patients as well.
Dr. Summers agreed to a suspension in lieu of contesting the charges at a hearing. The Board suspended his license to practice medicine for one year but shortened the suspension to six months if he met certain conditions such as completing several continuing medical education courses and reimbursing the Board for all costs related to the investigation. He is indefinitely suspended from writing prescriptions for Schedule II, IIN, III, and IIIN controlled substances.
The Board charged Dr. Summers with 23 violations:
Count 1: Failure to produce patient records for inspections
Count 2, 5, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24: Unprofessional conduct likely to deceive or harm the public
Count 3, 6, 11, 14, 19, 22: Illegal prescribing of narcotic drugs
Count 4, 7, 12, 15, 20, 23: Failure to maintain patient records for controlled substances.
Count 9 : Failure to keep records for controlled substances prescribed
County 17: Prescribing amphetimine Schedule II drugs for weight control
Dr. Summers did not have to admit to any wrongdoing under the consent order.
Kingfish note: Six months is a slap on the wrist. This was not a doctor fighting his own addiction but instead a doctor who became a drug dealer. The Board should have referred the case to the A.G. for criminal prosecution.
31 comments:
So....in MS, a doctor can deal (and possibly cause OD's) and get a slap on the wrist and keep his license. At the same time, some crazy woman has successfully harassed the legislature into charging the common man with murder if someone willingly uses a drug the other guy bought and then dies. Sounds about right for the dumb ass hypocrites in charge of this state and the plethora of morons that blindly follow them.
2:18, did that bill pass? I thought it was killed.
The glaring question that comes immediately to mind is, "What was this psychiatrist getting in return?" Surely it was more than the going rate for an hour of 'couch time'.
"Next week I want you to come to the session without panties and bring a large bandana and a plastic fireman's helmet."
This is wrong, wrong, sooooo wrong! This guy is a menace!
Every 'doctor' in this state should demand the license of this POS be permanently revoked. But they won't because they are too busy taking up for each other or writing their own share of dangerous drugs. He is a drug dealer and should be treated as one. Medical care is the third leading cause of death in the USA. JAMA Look it up.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ms-supreme-court/1439976.html
Is this him suing St Andrews a while back?
It appears he was in trouble with the FDA as far back as 2010.
We all would appreciate and should be able to see ALL such suspensions over the last 10 years. Many of these drug dealing doctors are, no doubt, still practicing after their brief suspension.
This guy was always a problem. He lives a few houses down from me in northeast Jackson. He's just trouble all around
Dr Summers has been one of the top practicing psychiatrists in the state- his work with adolescents has been noted by his peers as one of the best. The investigation frames Dr Summers as a drug dealer- if anything, he wrote prescription for a friend who might be your local judge or a practicing attorney who doesn’t take time for regular check ups etc. Likely a favor for a close friend. Frankly, a procedure that has been followed by physicians all over the state for years- until the opioid crisis. How many times have you called your trusted physician with symptoms or pain- too busy for a regular appointment. We have VIP or concierge services for personal healthcare without a two hours wait in an office. Timothy Summers was exceptional with his practice patterns at Alliance Health Center- was monitored by his peers and medical physicians in Meridian. Dr Summers would round adolescents daily, observe there behaviors in group therapy or in the classroom of some of the most troubled youth in the state. Dr Summers has been a physician cleared by the White House for the treatment of the children of cabinet level staff. Dr Summers family owned and operated the Summers Hotel in Jackson- a former historic hotel near the capital. Yes, times have changed and monitoring has changed by the state boards. Readers look closely at the body of the work of a fine doctor who has provided excellent emergency psychiatric care to thousands- sometimes without payment. At the twilight of his career, I offer a personal testimony of the goodness of this physician. Timothy Sumner’s is a good man, a great physician..whose name is now smeared by an aggressive investigation. As an observer of this mans professionalism, I would work with him over and over again.
Dr Summers has been an excellent psychiatrist for adolescents in this state for years. He has assisted many judges, lawyers, bankers and cabinet level White House officials. The man is not a drug dealer. At the twilight of a great career, recognize that enforcement has changed, and an isolated few favors/ mistakes were made. Not a life threatening sentence or a burn him at the cross mentality of this blog. It’s interesting that this article was published a year after the event. Someone has a big ax to grind!
I practice medicine, give me a break. How many shrinks are there in this town alone that have all their patients so gorked out on benzos and over medicated with antidepressants and antipsychotics that they drool and almost quit breathing. Granted this guy was writing cough syrup and treating problems out of his scope of practice, but if you want to get honest, there are lots of specialists that write meds that they shouldn't, and there are a whole host of nurse practitioners that are out of control with pain meds and benzos that don't even fall under the board.
To the “ practicing physician”- how many sub specialists write prescriptions without coordinating medicines with a patients primary care physician? This is how patients get on multiple medications. As a fact, Dr Summers, worked diligently with the patients primary care physician to pull medications back not as you stated keeping patients drugged up.
I also practice medicine, and 8:10 speaks the truth.
Ole Tim's way of picking up a few bucks on the side would not be quite enough to set an embarrassing precedent for law enforcement in this state. Tim is the beneficiary of the second most powerful professional cartel in this state and they can't start jailing drug dispensing physicians so easily. His actions with his attorney were the equivalent of a DUI refusal of the test. He lives to fight another day. It's just a wake up call for a lot of other drug dispensers.
This is absurd. Dr. Timothy Summers is the best Psychiatrist in the State of Mississippi. He has always put his patients and their families first. His entire medical professional career has been dedicated to the treatment of the complete person. You cannot treat the mind without treating the body. Dr. Summers has always been the doctor you called when you wanted the best treatment.
If it were some black defendant selling opioids on the street, I bet you wouldn't be so easy on him as you are with a guy carrying a prescription pad and a white coat. A different form of white privilege.
Dr. Summers is not a drug dealer. Dr. Summers has been the doctor to many well known, successful, well-respected, professional people in the state. He has provided medical care to many I know personally at the most inconvenient times and during times most needed. And he has always done so with the highest level of confidentiality. I am sure the patients to whom he was protecting in this article agree and thank him. I thank him.
"And he has always done so with the highest level of confidentiality. I am sure the patients to whom he was protecting in this article agree and thank him. I thank him.", 9:17am
Well Hell ... that changes ever'thang!
NOBODY likes a snitch
back in the late 1990s i remember watching this doc testify in a manslaughter sentencing. defendant was a high school girl who birthed a live baby at home by herself. she then put the baby in a trash can and went to band practice. testifying for the defense , he made a thousand excuses for her. of course, he had his patient crying through the entire proceedings . must have done a good job cause a certain circuit judge, who is now a federal judge on the 5th circuit gave the girl a suspended sentence . after the hearing i saw the girl happily chomping down on a baby ruth bar out in the hallway, as if nothing had happened.
To start, this is a very tasteless article and blog. Second, if you knew anything about Dr. Summers you would know that he is a world renowned psysichian, but I’m sure you know that already. Third, since you want to bring race into the equation as stated in your poorly written comment above, let’s not pretend like his white counterparts don’t even get a slap on the wrist. Lastly, he has been practicing medicine for over 40 years and he is currently nationally considered as a mental health expert. This is a bogus article, and if Summers is guilty of anything it’s being naive not drug dealing.
So using a prescription pad from employer that was no longer the employer for quite some time is ok.
You really think I have a problem with punishing the white counterparts as you put it?
Funny how the prison/drug/criminal justice reform crowd uses "poor and black" all the time to talk about disparities but if I do it to point out a doctor getting off easy compared to a drug dealer, that's racist. Screw you. You're the bogus one.
As for that baby murder case, is that the one where Stringfellow applauded the verdict? One of the more disgusting columns I've ever read.
to 12:16pm....'world renowned physicians" are very seldom naive.
to KF........12:15 HERE....i cant remember if stringfellow cheered graves on but i wouldn't doubt it.
Damn! The same poster writes seven testimonials for the good doctor in the space of an hour. Holy Opiod Batman!
@Big Sergio
I possibly would have given your comment more consideration if you had spelled his name correctly every time. Perhaps if you used the correct version of the word "there" in your comment, it would have helped your credibility. Maybe if you would have used the right punctuation, that could have swayed me.
No matter how good you try to make him sound, he had no business writing prescriptions the way he did. Refusing to provide files specified in a search warrant doesn't help him. It sounds like he knew that those certain files were the ones that they would be coming for, and he decided to destroy them. Something smells.
Refusing to produce documents covered by a search warrant.
Using a fraudulent prescription pad to write prescriptions in order to trick the pharmacist.
Attempting to hide under the skirt of Dennis Sweet.
Those things don't add up to credibility and professionalism. But that's just me.
Am I to understand this man is black? If so, what difference does that make. Stringfellow has always been a buffoon, but that's not germane here either.
If a poor man holds his hand in his pocket and robs a store threatening to use the gun he doesn't have he'll get decades in prison for armed robbery while a doctor hands out restricted drugs causing real misery and death yet only gets a long unpaid vacation. Yeah, that's a great way to hand out equal justice.
The only thing I know for sure is that all these druggies have caused problems for normal people who needs some temporary normal pain treatment. The doctors are now forced to prescribe crap that doesn't come close to stopping pain. Why should we ALL suffer because SOME people abuse drugs? We can't even buy a decent sinus medication over the counter anymore. Now you have to go to a doctor's office and pay $200 to get something that used to cost $8.
I am late reviewing this information. However, I am a long time mental health practitioner. I began my career working along side Dr. Summers and he is still to this day one of the best psychiatrists I know. He is a wealth of knowledge and is highly skilled in the mental health field. He taught me a lot about medicines, behaviors, and evidence-based treatments. It absurd to judge him on such limited information. I thrive as a clinician because of him.
-Licensed Professional Counselor
I’m very late seeing this article.. only because I happened to google Timothy Summers to check his official status. I was “ treated” by him for 6 years and due to his sloppy oversight and general lazy ass practice at Alliance, I developed an incurable neurological disorder caused by over subscribing of neuroleptic medications. This is a situation no responsible psychiatrist would ever permit to happen. He's a sloppy, dangerous physician who should never be allowed to “ practice” medicine again. I only wonder how many other vulnerable patients got totally screwed up by him.
Post a Comment