Summaries of Regents Actions
On Professional Misconduct and Discipline*
February 2005
Chiropractic - Dentistry - Nursing - Pharmacy - Physical Therapy - Public Accountancy - Veterinary Medicine
Chiropractic
Frank J. Amato, Bellport, NY
Profession: Chiropractor; Lic. No. 005294; Cal.
No. 21280
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005 (see also December
2001)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 5 year suspension of license to be terminated upon payment
of $7,000 fine imposed under Order No. 18075; 2 year probation; $1,000
fine plus $7,000 fine if not paid during 5 year suspension.
Summary: Licensee admitted to failing to comply
with terms of probation as set forth in Order Number 18075, effective
January 14, 2002.
Dentistry
Robert Steven Aron, Boca Raton, FL
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 040214; Cal. No. 21964
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of failure
to provide an adequate orthodontic treatment plan for a patient;
failure to take x-rays, make study models or create study models,
tracing or bit registrations for a patient; and failure to keep dental
and medical treatment records to justify the course of treatment
for a patient.
John A. Augello, Levittown, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 023501; Cal. No. 21143
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 1 year actual suspension, a consecutive 1 year stayed
suspension, 2 years of probation to commence upon licensee’s return
to practice.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charges of issuing
excessive prescriptions for Tylenol No. 4 to two patients that were
not for legitimate dental treatment purposes, and of issuing prescriptions
for Tylenol No. 4 to two patients that were not warranted by said
patients' dental conditions.
Zinaida Aulova, Forest Hills, NY
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 047882; Cal. No. 21558
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct;
Penalty: Censure and Reprimand.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having
been convicted of Attempted Unauthorized Practice of a Profession,
a class A misdemeanor.
Lee Baigelman, Coral Springs, FL
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 032786; Cal. No. 21977
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of physical
abuse of a patient.
Lorne Tomalty, Boca Raton, FL
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 031865; Cal. No. 21958
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 1 year actual suspension, 2 years probation, $2,500
fine, $5,000 fine.
Summary: Respondent admitted to charge of having
been convicted in Florida of a crime which in New York would have
constituted Petit Larceny.
Edward P. Trimmer, Pawleys Island, SC
Profession: Dentist; Lic. No. 046464; Cal. No. 21819
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 6 month actual suspension, 66 months stayed suspension,
6 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charge of having been
found guilty in South Carolina of Willfully Filing a False Claim,
a felony.
Nursing
Esther K. Akeem, Rochester, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 267152;
Cal. No. 21795
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 2 year suspension of license with the last 23 months
stayed, 2 years probation concurrent with the suspension, completion
of the NYSNA coursework in medication administration.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of inaccurate
medication administration.
Elizabeth Okyere Appiah, New York, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 235628;
Cal. No. 21903
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 month stayed suspension,
2 years concurrent probation, with special terms requiring that licensee
submit quarterly employer reports, and to successfully complete the
NYSNA course in pharmacology and medication administration for nurses.
Summary: Licensee did not contest a charge that
she accepted, transcribed, and carried out a physician's order for
what she believed called for the intravenous infusion of 30 milliequivalents
of potassium chloride into an elderly patient, when the physician
never specified the type of diluent, the volume of diluent, or the
rate of infusion.
Winnicent Burrell, Paterson, NJ
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 263706;
Cal. No. 21688
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation with respondent
to complete a course in medication administration, $250 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of administering
medication to the wrong patient in one instance and administering
a medication not ordered by the physician in a second instance.
Diane Camuti, Astoria, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 079674;
Cal. No. 21264
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct;
Penalty: Suspension until terminated as set forth in Hearing Panel
report – upon termination of suspension, probation 5 years.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of: practicing
the profession of nursing while impaired because of her use of the
drug Propofol; stealing Demerol from the hospital where she was employed
and willfully making false reports by documenting, on five different
dates, that she had withdrawn the Demerol for specific patients,
none of which received the drug.
Tracie Catherine Cavanaugh, Rensselaer, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 259914;
Cal. No. 21428
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charges of
altering records of patient’s medications, providing a false physician’s
order, and committing medication administration and documentation
errors.
Robert Cohen, Matawan, NJ
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic.
No. 324280; Cal. No. 21962
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 18 months actual suspension, 6 months stayed suspension,
consecutive 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to being convicted of
committing an act constituting a crime in another jurisdiction and
which, if committed in New York would constitute a crime (Conspiracy
to Commit Petit Larceny).
Valerie D. Evans, Norfolk, VA
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 131646;
Cal. No. 21592
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 3 year actual suspension with leave to apply for early
termination upon proof of completion of a nursing refresher course
and remedial coursework in medication administration; 2 year period
of probation upon return to the practice of nursing in New York State,
with special terms requiring submission of quarterly employer reports,
and completion of the required coursework if not taken prior to the
commencement of probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of, in
March 1999, entering into a consent order with the Virginia Board
of Nursing, in which said board found that she had engaged in conduct
constituting professional misconduct under Virginia law; said conduct
would have constituted professional misconduct if committed in New
York State.
Esther Olukemi Famuyiwa, Queens Village, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 214099;
Cal. No. 21904
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years concurrent probation,
with special terms requiring licensee to submit quarterly employer
reports, and to successfully complete the NYSNA course in pharmacology
and medication administration for nurses.
Summary: Licensee did not contest a charge that
she administered 30 milliequivalents of potassium chloride in normal
saline solution intravenously to a patient when the transcribed physician's
telephone order merely called for "30 meq KCL liquid," without
specifying the route of administration, the diluent, the volume of
diluent, or the rate of flow.
James Walter Goodie, Mt. Vernon, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 257482;
Cal. No. 21698
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: Indefinite suspension of not less than 2 years and until
consistent reports of fitness to practice as determined by a psychiatrist,
psychologist, certified social worker or nurse practitioner (psychiatric
specialty) approved by the New York State Education Department –
upon licensee’s return to practice in New York, 2 years probation
with quarterly employer reports and practice only under direct supervision
of a registered professional nurse in an Article 28 facility.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of inappropriate
contact of a sexual nature with patients and of being convicted of
the crime of Petit Larceny.
Todd M. Hulbert, New Paltz, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic.
No. 532351; Cal. No. 21773
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: Partial actual suspension in the area of medication
administration until the successful completion of NYSNA medication
course, consecutive 2 years probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charge that while
caring for one patient, he failed to perform the glucose level checks
as ordered by the patient's physician, failed to inform the physician
that the feeding tube ordered for the patient was not available,
and failed to document his assessments of the patient.
Mary Jean McCarthy, Grando, AZ
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 182309;
Cal. No. 21956
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of
having been found guilty by the Arizona State Board for Nursing of
professional misconduct.
Virgil James Perry, Stuarts-Draft, VA
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic.
No. 208496; Cal. No. 21963
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having
been found guilty by a duly authorized professional disciplinary
agency of another state of diversion of controlled drugs for his
own use and failure to complete treatment as recommended.
Milagro Perryman, Elmont, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered
Professional Nurse, Nurse Practitioner; Lic. Nos. 202785, 421010,
Cert. No. 301465; Cal. Nos. 21734, 21733, 21732
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 4 month actual suspension, 20 months stayed suspension,
2 years concurrent probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having
been convicted of Insurance Fraud in the 4th Degree, a class E felony.
Helen Quiles, Bronx, NY and Teaneck, NJ
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered
Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 218957, 488188; Cal. Nos. 21905, 21906
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 2 month actual suspension, 22 month stayed suspension,
2 years concurrent probation with a special term requiring licensee
to submit quarterly employer reports, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest a charge that,
when questioned by a licensed practical nurse under her supervision
about a physician's telephone order that appeared to call for the
intravenous infusion of 30 milliequivalents of potassium chloride
into an elderly patient, without specifying the type of diluent,
the volume of diluent, or the rate of infusion, she failed to examine
the transcribed order; failed to consult an available nursing drug
reference book to determine whether the quantity of potassium chloride
apparently ordered could be safely infused via an intravenous route;
failed to consult with the physician; and then instructed the LPN
to administer the 30 milliequivalents of potassium chloride in 50
cc of normal saline solution via intravenous pump, to infuse over
approximately one hour.
Wendy A. Relihan, Syracuse, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 265544;
Cal. No. 21448
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $250 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to a charge of giving
a fellow employee an albuterol nebulizer for a cold without a physician's
order.
Donna Sue Richardson, Scottsville, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 131163;
Cal. No. 21768
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 month stayed suspension,
2 years probation with special term of respondent to complete the
NYSNA medication administration course.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of inaccurate
medication administration and records.
Nenita V. Sausa, Jackson Heights, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic.
No. 356213; Cal. No. 21523
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 12 months stayed suspension, 12 months probation, $500
fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to failing to maintain
a record that accurately reflected her evaluation and treatment of
her patients.
Sonya Marie Schaff, Dunkirk, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 245905;
Cal. No. 21828
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 2 years stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to having been convicted
of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Falsely Reporting an Incident,
and Criminal Contempt.
Evelyn Schwerin, Kingston, WA
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic.
No. 535505; Cal. No. 21908
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of
failing to properly transcribe physician medication orders onto patient
medication administration records in that, on one occasion, she failed
to enter an order on the patient chart, and on a second occasion,
she mistranscribed an order onto the patient chart.
Gary Benjamin Thurston, Cayuga, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 248438;
Cal. No. 21038
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 1 year actual suspension; upon licensee’s return to
practice, 2 years probation with respondent to work only in a supervised
setting.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having
been convicted of the charges of Attempted Larceny in the 4th Degree,
a class A misdemeanor; Criminal Contempt in the 2nd Degree, a class
A misdemeanor; and Attempted Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree, a class
E felony.
Amanda E. Treis, North Tonawanda, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 265010;
Cal. No. 21637
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: Partial actual suspension in area of medication administration
until successful completion of medication administration course;
1 year probation, $250 fine, quarterly performance reports.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charge of administering
medications to a patient for whom the medications were not ordered
and failing to document the administration of those medications in
the patient's record.
Agiake Ufumaka, Bronx, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered
Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 209574, 520847; Cal. Nos. 21871, 21872
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 6 month actual suspension, 18 months stayed suspension,
2 years probation, that during probation respondent remain drug-free.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of
having been found guilty by the New Jersey Board of Nursing of professional
misconduct.
Amelia Zeigerman, Poughquag, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic.
No. 396829; Cal. No. 21693
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005 (see also June
1997 and June
1999)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension for no less than 3 years
and until fit to practice – upon return to practice, 2 years probation
with respondent to remain fit to practice and free from alcohol and
drug abuse, and to submit continuing reports and random urine screens
from a treatment provider and quarterly employer reports.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of being
convicted of the crime of Forgery in the 3rd Degree, a class A misdemeanor.
Physical Therapy
Julie Torrales, New York, NY
Profession: Physical Therapist Assistant; Cert.
No. 001047; Cal. No. 21820
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 months stayed suspension,
2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having
been found guilty by the Florida Board of Physical Therapy Practice
of professional misconduct.
Public Accountancy
Rosanna Bell, Irvington, NY
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. No.
054250; Cal. No. 21422
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct;
Penalty: Revocation.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having
been convicted of Conspiracy to Defraud the Internal Revenue Service
and Making False Statements with Respect to Loan Applications.
Franklin M. Boykoff a/k/a Franklin Boykoff, Pleasantville, NY
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. No.
039659; Cal. No. 21419
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct;
Penalty: Revocation, $10,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having
been convicted of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States; Attempted
Evasion of Individual Income Taxes; Aiding and Assisting in the preparation
and Filing of False Income Tax Returns; Subscribing False Income
Tax Returns and Interfering with the Administration of the Internal
Revenue Laws.
Veterinary Medicine
Rita Maltese, Dix Hills, NY
Profession: Veterinarian; Lic. No. 002310; Cal.
No. 21890
Regents Action Date: February 8, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty
agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years concurrent probation,
that during probation licensee remain drug and alcohol free and submit
random urine screenings, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to being convicted of
Driving While Intoxicated, an unclassified misdemeanor.
* Terms under which this information is provided.
For further information: dplsdsu@mail.nysed.gov
