New York State Education Department

Office of the Professions

Summaries of Regents Actions on Professional Misconduct and Discipline

March 15, 2005

Terms under which this information is provided.



Acupuncture - Architecture - Chiropractic - Dentistry - Midwifery - Nursing - Pharmacy - Physical Therapy - Psychology - Public Accountancy - Respiratory Therapy - Social Work - Veterinary Medicine



Acupuncture

Peter Cunneen, Tarrytown, NY
Profession: Acupuncturist; Lic. No. 000603; Cal. No. 21997
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005 (see also September 2007)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension of not less than 18 months and until the successful completion of mental health evaluation/treatment concerning fitness to practice – upon licensee's return to practice, 2 years probation with quarterly mental fitness reports.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of intentionally touching the vagina of a female patient for no legitimate purpose.

Architecture

August S. Jubulis, Tonawanda, NY
Profession: Architect; Lic. No. 013766; Cal. No. 21855
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of wilfully failing to register to practice as a licensed architect.

Joseph R. Vislay, Cocoa Beach, FL
Profession: Architect; Lic. No. 022849; Cal. No. 22080
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of signing and sealing plans not prepared by him or an employee under his direct supervision.

Chiropractic

Richard Finder, Southampton, NY
Profession: Chiropractor; Lic. No. 003215; Cal. No. 22048
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been found guilty in New Jersey of the crimes of Attempted Theft by Deception and Health Care Claims Fraud, both felonies, which if committed in New York, would be Aggravated Insurance Fraud, a class D felony.

Dentistry

Aesthetic Dental Associates, P.C., 1443 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203
Profession: Dentistry; Cal. No. 20247
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender certificate of incorporation granted.
Summary: Respondent admits to being under investigation based upon disciplinary charges for criminal convictions of its president and sole shareholder for Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree, a class D felony; Insurance Fraud in the 3rd Degree, a class D felony; and Falsifying Business Records in the 1st Degree, a class E felony.

Leonard Scott Berl, Albany, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 040893; Cal. No. 19855
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree, a class D felony; Insurance Fraud in the 3rd Degree, a class D felony; and Falsifying Business Records in the 1st Degree, a class E felony.

Serioja Constantin, Chappaqua, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 047951; Cal. No. 21929
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation with respondent to submit proof of successful completion of coursework as set forth in consent order application, $750 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of failing to keep written dental and medical history records justifying the course of treatment of a patient, and failing to diagnose and treat said patient's tooth decay between 4/00 and 10/03, in the State of Florida.

Steven Eidman, Englewood, NJ and Bronx, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 036738; Cal. No. 21136
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Revocation.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having been convicted of Grand Larceny in the 2nd Degree, a class C felony.

Howard B. Fine, Rochester, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 028032; Cal. No. 21132
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of filing false federal income tax returns.

Emmett Joseph Folgert, Massena, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 013776; Cal. No. 21439
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005 (See also March 2000)
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges of, while caring for each of two patients, failing to take a diagnostic x-ray prior to commencing a procedure and, in the case of one of the aforesaid two patients, he also improperly stuck a needle into the outside of the patient’s cheek while filling one of the patient’s teeth.

Alexei Mikerin, Sarasota, FL
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 048786; Cal. No. 21595
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been found guilty by the Florida Board of Dentistry of professional misconduct.

Arkady Pavlov, Brooklyn, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 044329; Cal. No. 21894
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 years stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $7,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of permitting an unlicensed employee to practice dentistry in licensee's office between 1999 and June 2003.

Randy Gordon Raetz, Rochester, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 045887; Cal. No. 21565
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation with successful completion of coursework as set forth in consent order application, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge that he failed to maintain accurate patient records.

Rochester Endodontic Associates, P.C., 1577 South Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620-3918
Profession: Dentistry; Cal. No. 21148
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year probation, $5,000 fine.
Summary: Respondent PC admitted during investigation that federal income tax returns filed for members of the PC for the years 1997, 1998, and 1999 failed to report income received from respondent in an amount exceeding $86,809.

Paul A. Sadowsky, Middle Village, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 037193; Cal. No. 20034
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005 (See also April 1996)
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges of entering into an agreement with another dentist to submit claims to an insurance company for dental work not performed as claimed; submitting claims to an insurance company naming the other dentist as provider of dental services when he did not provide the services claimed; and violating a term of probation by committing the aforementioned acts.

Chana Linda Weller, New York, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 039533; Cal. No. 18286
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Censure and Reprimand.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of practicing the profession with negligence on more than one occasion relating to fabricating a post and core without obtaining an x-ray.

Midwifery

Erin M. Carroll, Camillus, NY
Profession: Midwife; Lic. No. 000408; Cal. No. 21515
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of failing to recognize a non-reassuring fetal heart pattern and failing to timely consult with the collaborating physician; 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $1,000 fine.

Nursing

Robert F. Alm, Jr., Rochester, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 268971; Cal. No. 22038
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of an act, which in New York State, would have constituted the crime of Grand Larceny in the 4th Degree, a felony.

Nancy Blydenburgh, Greenport, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 083731; Cal. No. 21803
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation as set forth in consent order application.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of placing Catapres patches on a patient without insuring that said patches actually contained medication.

Delores Bowman, Fair Lawn, NJ
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 225649; Cal. No. 21912
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 years stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges that she was convicted of Failure to File a Return, a class A misdemeanor.

Annemarie Broming a/k/a Annemarie Smith, Levittown, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 246902; Cal. No. 22058
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of having been convicted of Driving While Intoxicated, an unclassified misdemeanor, Petit Larceny, a class A misdemeanor, and Driving While Intoxicated, a class E felony; and the charge of willfully filing a false report.

David Nathan Chaykin, Huntington Station, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 195753, 402254; Cal. Nos. 21847, 21846
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 3 months actual suspension, 21 months stayed suspension, 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of abandoning a patient who was undergoing an operation in which he was the scrub nurse/first assistant.

Robert Culver Fritts, Briarwood, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse, Nurse Practitioner; Lic. Nos. 198172, 424282, Cert. No. 332990; Cal. Nos. 20058, 20059, 20060
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Censure and Reprimand, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee could not successfully defend against charges of submitting a false application for employment.

Hazel Verona Garnett, Beacon, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 181663; Cal. No. 21802
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension as set forth in consent order application – upon termination of above suspension, partial actual suspension as set forth in consent order application – upon licensee's return to practice in New York 2 years probation as set forth in consent order application.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of mistakenly administering medication to a patient without a doctor's order in two separate instances.

Raelene Ann Hample a/k/a Raelene Benoit, Phelps, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 147093; Cal. No. 22016
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005 (See also April 1997)
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted in 2003 of two felony counts of Driving While Intoxicated and one misdemeanor count of Reckless Driving.

Charlene Fazio Jordano a/k/a Charlene Ostro, Lake Ariel, PA
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 242099; Cal. No. 21976
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 months stayed suspension – upon licensee's return to practice in New York, 2 years probation as set forth in consent order application.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of failing to change a patient’s wound dressing on approximately 5 occasions.

Lisa Marie Kutera, Lackawana, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 185768, 458243; Cal. Nos. 21817, 21818
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation as set forth in consent order application, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of committing medication administration errors.

Tracy Marie Lefort, Rushford, NY and Cuba, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 225399; Cal. No. 20272
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Revocation.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of stealing Loratab and morphine sulfate from the facility where she was employed, destroying a narcotics log and creating a false log to cover the theft of the Loratab tablets and forging the signature of another licensed practical nurse on the false log she created to cover the theft of the Loratab.

Amy Rakoff a/k/a Amy Maura Rakoff, Hopewell Junction, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse, Nurse Practitioner; Lic. No. 303934, Cert. No. 400479; Cal. Nos. 20693, 20692
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license and certificate granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges of exercising undue influence over patients; engaging in inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with patients; revealing personally identifiable information about a patient without said patient’s prior consent; delegating professional responsibilities when the delegate was not qualified by training, by experience or by licensure to perform them; failing to maintain a record which accurately reflected the evaluation and treatment of patients; willfully harassing and intimidating patients verbally and physically; willfully filing a false report; and willfully obtaining controlled substances by fraud, deceit, misrepresentation and subterfuge.

Carol A. Skalla, Lewiston, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 105910; Cal. No. 21946
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed probation, 1 year probation, $250 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of medication errors.

Dennis James Staples, Buffalo, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 262808; Cal. No. 21833
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $250 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of committing medication and record keeping errors.

Keith W. Thompson, Binghamton, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 235432; Cal. No. 21917
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year actual suspension – upon licensee's return to practice, 2 years probation as set forth in consent order application.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of failing to disclose a criminal conviction on an employment application and failing to disclose a criminal conviction on his license application.

Holly East Tilson, Rochester, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 262069; Cal. No. 21338
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension of not less than 6 months and until fit to practice – upon licensee's return to practice, 2 years probation as set forth in consent order application.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of forging co-workers’ signatures on narcotic control documentation and being convicted of Petit Larceny in 2004.

James Verner a/k/a Olusegun Lamodi, Gansevoort, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 269053; Cal. No. 21945
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 6 months actual suspension – upon licensee's return to practice, 3 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: The licensee admitted to charges of using a false name to obtain his license to practice as a licensed practical nurse in the State of New York.

Grace Weekes a/k/a Grace Thomas, West Orange, NJ
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 106382, 305381; Cal. Nos. 20627, 20628
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 6 months actual suspension, 18 months stayed suspension – upon licensee's return to practice in New York, 2 years probation as set forth in consent order application, $1,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of submitting time sheets to her employer falsely representing that she worked dates or hours that she knew she had not worked.

Catherine Witkousky, Lakeville, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 409943; Cal. No. 21770
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 years stayed suspension, 2 years probation as set forth in consent order application, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of having been convicted in 2002 of Driving While Intoxicated.

Tanita Rochelle Woodson, New York, NY
Profession:
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of being convicted of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 4th Degree, a class A misdemeanor.

Pharmacy

Richard W. Becker, Lima, NY
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 024719; Cal. No. 21191
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 3 months actual suspension, 21 months stayed suspension – upon licensee's return to practice, 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges of dispensing the wrong strength of Coumadin.

Irfan Mehr, Hornell, NY
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 028951; Cal. No. 21901
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $5,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges of dispensing insulin to a patient for whom there was no prescription.

Terence Taylor, Lynbrook, NY
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 047647; Cal. No. 22032
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Censure and Reprimand, $750 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of dispensing a misbranded drug.

Physical Therapy

Andrew Michael Enea, Little Falls, NY
Profession: Physical Therapy; Lic. No. 024871; Cal. No. 21824
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of failing to maintain a record to accurately reflect the treatment rendered.

Psychology

Barbara S. Sternberg, West Yarmouth, MA
Profession: Psychologist; Lic. No. 008691; Cal. No. 21440
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Revocation.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having been convicted of Grand Larceny in the 2nd Degree, a class C felony.

Public Accountancy

Edward Buonora, Bohemia, NY
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. No. 059142; Cal. No. 20706
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Revocation; $7,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of willfully failing to register with the Division of Professional Licensing Services of the New York State Education Department.

Jeffrey Goldstein, Merrick, NY
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. No. 043544; Cal. No. 21932
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year actual suspension, 1 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $10,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges that, in each of two audits, his independence as an auditor was impaired and that he failed, in each of the aforesaid audits, to properly characterize a loan as a related-party transaction.

Joseph Scott Hirsch, Plainview, NY
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. No. 058624; Cal. No. 21624
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Revocation.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having been convicted of two counts of Sexual Abuse in the 1st Degree; one count of Assault in the 2nd Degree; one count of Assault in the 2nd Degree and one count of Unlawful Imprisonment in the 1st Degree.

Wesley J. Sweeney, Schuyler Lake, NY
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. No. 070336; Cal. No. 21444
Regents Action Date:
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having committed conduct constituting the crime of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree.

Respiratory Therapy

Annemarie Manns, Pittsfield, MA
Profession: Respiratory Therapy Technician; Lic. No. 001937; Cal. No. 21835
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 11 months stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $250 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of failing to follow a physician's weaning order.

Social Work

Allen Steven Levy, Fairfield, CT
Profession: Licensed Clinical Social Worker; Lic. No. 031114; Cal. No. 21606
Regents Action Date: March 16, 2005 (see also November 2005)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year actual suspension, 1 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $10,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of being convicted of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree.

Cynthia Beth Morse, Delmar, NY
Profession: Licensed Master Social Worker; Lic. No. 052806; Cal. No. 21836
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 years suspension with leave to apply for early termination of suspension as set forth in consent order application – upon licensee's return to practice, 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges of moral unfitness.

Richard Smith, Aquebogue, NY
Profession: Licensed Clinical Social Worker; Lic. No. 035608; Cal. No. 21545
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of conduct in the profession, which evidences moral unfitness, to wit: borrowing money from a patient and using it to support cocaine use.

Veterinary Medicine

Edwin Clement, Rochester, NY
Profession: Veterinarian; Lic. No. 001560; Cal. No. 21918
Regents Action Date: March 15, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of failing to keep adequate records.

For further information: dplsdsu@mail.nysed.gov
Last Update: March 10, 2008
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