Summaries of Regents Actions
on Professional
Misconduct and Discipline
February 2009
Terms under which this information is provided.
- Acupuncture - Architecture - Chiropractic - Engineering and Land Surveying - Nursing - Pharmacy - Physical Therapy - Podiatry - Public Accountancy - Respiratory Therapy - Veterinary Medicine -
Acupuncture
Anatoly Shafransky, Brooklyn, NY
Profession: Acupuncturist; Lic. No. 002996; Cal. No. 24261
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 month actual suspension, 22 month stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Falsifying Business Records in the 2nd Degree.
Catherine Frances Tortorella, Richmond Hill, NY
Profession: Acupuncturist; Lic. No. 002280; Cal. No. 24238
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Failing to Make and File a United States Tax Return, a misdemeanor.
Architecture
Malcolm Astor Kaye, New York, NY
Profession: Architect; Lic. No. 021910; Cal. No. 24095
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee could not successfully defend against charges of permitting 3 unlicensed persons to practice architecture and failing to prepare and retain for at least 6 years a written evaluation of the professional services represented by plans signed and sealed by him but not prepared by him or by an employee under his direct supervision.
Chiropractic
Catherine Frances Tortorella, Richmond Hill, NY
Profession: Chiropractor; Lic. No. 002754; Cal. No. 24237
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Failing to Make and File a United States Tax Return, a misdemeanor.
Engineering and Land Surveying
Profession: Professional Engineer; Lic. No. 054060; Cal. No. 23480
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 month actual suspension, 22 month stayed suspension, $7,500 fine payable within 60 days.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of receiving a referral fee in connection with the performance of professional services, and affixing his signature and seal to plans for a structure, which plans were neither prepared by him nor under his supervision, without maintaining a written professional evaluation of the plans for 6 years.
Nursing
Beverly A. Brown-Pisons, Staten Island, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 240592, 478953; Cal. Nos. 24154, 24016
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 4 month actual suspension, 32 month stayed suspension, 3 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of failing to notify the physician on call that a patient had a fever of 106 degrees, committing a medication administration error on the same patient, and failing to document the administration of the medication on the patient's Medication Administration Record.
Julie A. Causyn, Rochester, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 262348; Cal. No. 24169
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $750 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of failing to maintain accurate patient records.
Catherine E. Constantinou a/k/a Catherine Tessmer, Fresh Meadows, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 538494; Cal. No. 24243
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009 (See also May 2010)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 3 month actual suspension, 21 month stayed suspension, 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charge of having been convicted of Attempted Petit Larceny, a class B misdemeanor, and Petit Larceny, a class a misdemeanor.
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 134715, 318152; Cal. Nos. 24187, 24188
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 month stayed suspension, 24 months probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges that he willfully falsely stated in a nursing employment application that he had no professional disciplinary history, and, in his 2005-2008 New York State registered professional nurse registration application, that he had not been terminated from employment by a hospital or licensed facility since filing his last registration application.
Peter Jerome Felton, Wyandanch, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 213066; Cal. No. 23992
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation to commence upon return to practice.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of having been convicted on 2 occasions of Criminal Contempt in the 2nd Degree, class A misdemeanors.
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 287847; Cal. No. 24253
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $750 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Welfare Fraud in the 5th Degree.
Rhonda Gierszewski, South Dayton, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 286060; Cal. No. 24202
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension until fit to practice, upon termination of suspension 2 years probation to commence upon return to practice, $250 fine payable within 6 months.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of practicing beyond the scope of her profession.
Marie Lourdes Gilles, Yonkers, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 213030; Cal. No. 24251
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Grand Larceny in the 2nd Degree, a class C felony.
Catherine Hill, Port Jefferson Station, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 098086; Cal. No. 24048
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 35 month stayed suspension, 3 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges that, on or about May 28, 2007, while practicing the profession of nursing at St. Catherine of Siena Nursing Home, Smithtown, New York, she communicated to her supervisor her erroneous assumption that a patient had Do Not Resuscitate orders, thereby preventing the calling of a code and an attempt to resuscitate this patient.
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 580255; Cal. No. 24196
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation to commence upon return to practice in New York State, $1,500 fine payable within 1 year.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of moral unfitness to practice.
Kathleen Marie Leo, Johnstown, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 469060; Cal. No. 24104
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 month stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of having committed an act constituting the crime of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 2nd Degree and of having falsified records for controlled substances.
Kenya Askale Lindsay a/k/a Kenya Lindsay, Atlanta, GA
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 515901; Cal. No. 23894
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Annulment of license, $10,000 fine payable within 6 months.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of obtaining her license to practice as a registered professional nurse fraudulently, having been convicted of the crime of Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Access Devices, a felony and unprofessional conduct.
Jean Frantz Louisme, Spring Valley, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 562587; Cal. No. 24215
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $750 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge that while employed and on duty as a nurse, he made entries in the Medication Administration Record of a patient to reflect the repeated administration of medication when he did not know if the said medication had been administered.
Mary Catherine Oberle, New Windsor, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 260965; Cal. No. 24212
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of giving a colleague an injection of Tigan, a prescription-required medication when she was not a member of a profession authorized to prescribe medications and said administration was not prescribed or otherwise authorized by a physician or other professional legally entitled to do so.
Aniamma Alex Philip, Tappan, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 194786, 414153; Cal. Nos. 24217, 24216
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $750 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge that while employed and on duty as a nurse, she knowingly falsified the Medicaid Administration Record of a patient so that it reflected the repeated administration of a medication when she knew that it had not been administered.
Marilou P. Sadd, Sound Beach, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 484037; Cal. No. 22790
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Pursue a course of education in ethics, probation 2 years, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of practicing the profession fraudulently, in that she intentionally submitted an employment application and resume to a hospital, knowing that they each contained information that was false and unprofessional conduct.
Anatoly Shafransky, Brooklyn, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 554420; Cal. No. 24260
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 month actual suspension, 22 month stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Falsifying Business Records in the 2nd Degree, a class A misdemeanor.
Philomena Walker-Keller, Jamaica, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 209497; Cal. No. 24201
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of failure to file a New York State Personal Income tax return or report for tax year 2003.
Roxanne Marie Wall, Gowanda, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 465217; Cal. No. 24213
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension for no less than 2 years and until fit to practice, upon termination of suspension 2 years probation to commence upon return to practice.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges that she diverted drugs for personal use and falsified documents to cover the diversion.
Pharmacy
Syed Zahid Ali, Saddle River, NJ
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 030672; Cal. No. 23975
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: 2 year suspension, $5,000 fine, upon termination of suspension, probation 2 years.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of having been convicted of the crime of Knowingly and Intentionally distributing, and possessing with intent to distribute, a controlled substance in violation of 21 USC 812, 841(a)(1) and 841 (b)(1)(D).
Chotu Corporation d/b/a Chotu Pharmacy, 74-17 101st Avenue, Ozone Park, NY
Profession: Pharmacy; Reg. No. 020850; Cal. No. 24214
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: $10,000 fine payable within 90 days.
Summary: Registrant did not contest the charge of failing to have a supervising pharmacist between June 23 and November 27, 2005.
Eckerd Corporation d/b/a Rite Aid Pharmacy, 1820 Teall Avenue, Syracuse, NY
Profession: Pharmacy; Reg. No. 024041; Cal. No. 24226
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: $10,000 fine payable within 2 months.
Summary: Registrant did not contest charges of willfully failing to notify the State Board of Pharmacy of a change in supervising pharmacist and failing to have a licensed pharmacist having personal supervision of the pharmacy.
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 028710; Cal. No. 23945
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009 (see also November 2003)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 month stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of holding for sale, offering for sale or selling any drug later than the date, if any, marked upon the label as indicative of the date beyond which the contents cannot be expected beyond reasonable doubt to be safe and effective.
Rite Aid of New York, Inc., P. O. Box 3165, Harrisburg, PA
Profession: Pharmacy; Reg. No. 016627; Cal. No. 24138
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: $10,000 fine payable within 30 days.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of failing to notify the New York State Board of Pharmacy that there was a change in the identity of the supervising pharmacist of the retail pharmacy operated by respondent in that there was no supervising pharmacist during the period from February 8, 2008 to May 20, 2008.
Rite Aid of New York, Inc. #4940, 3220 Monroe Avenue, Rochester, NY
Profession: Pharmacy; Reg. No. 024320; Cal. No. 24221
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Censure and Reprimand, $10,000 fine.
Summary: Registrant did not contest the charge of failing to notify the State Board of Pharmacy of a change in the identity of the supervising pharmacist.
S & D Pharmacy, Inc. d/b/a S & D Tri Town Pharmacy, 493 Sunrise Highway, Lynbrook, NY
Profession: Pharmacy; Reg. No. 017908; Cal. No. 23966
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $5,000 fine.
Summary: Registrant admitted to the charge of holding for sale, offering for sale or selling any drug later than the date, if any, marked upon the label as indicative of the date beyond which the contents cannot be expected beyond reasonable doubt to be safe and effective.
Ravikanth R. Surasani, Marlboro, NJ
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 049324; Cal. No. 23965
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Unlawful Dispensing of a Prescription Drug.
Physical Therapy
Christopher M. McRae, New Hyde Park, NY
Profession: Physical Therapist; Lic. No. 023793; Cal. No. 24235
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of 1 count of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Podiatry
Arthur Michael Minkoff, Woodmere, NY
Profession: Podiatrist; Lic. No. 003104; Cal. No. 24325
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest allegations of having been convicted of crimes of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the 3rd Degree, Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree, Criminal Diversion of Prescription Medications and Prescriptions in the 2nd Degree, Criminal Diversion of Prescription Medications and Prescriptions in the 3rd Degree, and Criminal Diversion of Prescription Medications and Prescriptions in the 4th Degree.
Public Accountancy
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. (Cert.) No. 025003; Cal. No. 24127
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Partial actual suspension in certain area for 1 year or until successfully complete course of retraining in that certain area, whichever occurs first, upon service or early termination of partial actual suspension, 2 years probation, $4,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having made audit errors on each of 3 annual audits of the financial statements of an entity.
Respiratory Therapy
Radames Mathew Velez, Yonkers, NY
Profession: Respiratory Therapist; Lic. No. 001581; Cal. No. 24130
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 month stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $3,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Petit Larceny.
Veterinary Medicine
Diane Jean Hurlbutt, Holley, NY
Profession: Veterinary Technician; Lic. No. 001057; Cal. No. 24007
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of handing the veterinarian a syringe filled with the incorrect solution which was injected into an animal.
David Edward Stone, Rensselaer, NY
Profession: Veterinarian; Lic. No. 008634; Cal. No. 24245
Regents Action Date: February 10, 2009
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of writing false prescriptions for controlled substances.
For further information: dplsdsu@nysed.gov
