New York State Education Department

Office of the Professions

Summaries of Regents Actions on Professional Misconduct and Discipline

September 9, 2005

Terms under which this information is provided.



Acupuncture - Chiropractic - Engineering and Land Surveying -Massage Therapy - Midwifery - Nursing - Optometry - Pharmacy - Podiatry - Public Accountancy - Veterinary Medicine



Acupuncture

Jonathan Leibell, New York, NY
Profession: Acupuncturist; Lic. No. 001268; Cal. No. 22275
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Insurance Fraud in the 3rd Degree; Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree and Scheme to Defraud in the 1st Degree.

Chiropractic

Jonathan Leibell, New York, NY
Profession: Chiropractor; Lic. No. 005912; Cal. No. 22276
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Insurance Fraud in the 3rd Degree; Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree and Scheme to Defraud in the 1st Degree.

Engineering and Land Surveying

Michael Walter Finkbeiner, Greenwich, CT
Profession: Land Surveyor; Lic. No. 050352; Cal. No. 21332
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Censure and Reprimand, $3,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of knowingly being associated in a professional capacity with a practice that was dishonest in that he was a partner in a limited liability partnership formed for the practice of engineering and land surveying with another individual who he knew had obtained his license to practice land surveying based upon false statements made on such other individual’s license application.

Massage Therapy

Patrick Joseph Roy, Liverpool, NY
Profession: Massage Therapist; Lic. No. 016979; Cal. No. 22364
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of conduct in the practice of massage therapy evidencing moral unfitness.

Midwifery

Susan M. Beardsley, St. Augustine, FL
Profession: Midwife; Lic. No. 000746 Cal. No. 22233
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of failing to maintain a record for each patient which accurately reflected the evaluation and treatment of the patient in that she failed to maintain a record for a patient for the approximately two-hour period of time between her arrival at the labor and delivery unit to the forceps delivery of the patient’s baby.

Nursing

Suzanne Marie Abel, Utica, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 415977; Cal. No. 22247
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year stayed suspension, 2 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of failing to monitor a patient with respiratory complications during treatment and failing to timely initiate emergency intervention.

Stephanie Ann Augustine, Oyster Bay, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 362721; Cal. No. 22156
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of, while employed and on duty as a nurse, requesting and permitting co-workers to attempt to start an intravenous line on her and to infuse intravenous fluids into her, despite the fact that no physician or other authorized practitioner had ordered same and despite the fact that she was not a registered patient in the hospital at the time.

Elaine Anne Austin, Staten Island, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 402150; Cal. No. 21967
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: 24 months suspension, execution of last 21 months of suspension stayed, probation 24 months.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having been convicted of Welfare Fraud in the 5th Degree, a misdemeanor.

Jodi Lynn Baker, Waverly, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 545896; Cal. No. 22230
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension until fit to practice – upon licensee’s return to practice, 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having a 2004 conviction of Forgery in the 2nd Degree.

Monica S. Betush, Olean, NY and Franklinville, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 183766; Cal. No. 21246
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Suspension for a minimum of 1 year and until terminated as set forth in Regents Review Committee report – upon termination of suspension, probation 2 years.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having been convicted of knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully acquiring and obtaining possession of hydrocodone, a controlled substance also known as Lortab and Lorcet Plus, by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception and subterfuge.

Jill Elaine Brewer, Porter Corners, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 189567; Cal. No. 21656
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: 2 year suspension, execution of suspension stayed, probation 2 years.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of having been convicted of Petit Larceny, a misdemeanor; and Forgery in the 3rd Degree, a misdemeanor.

Danielle Buffolino, Hicksville, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 249992, 514124; Cal. Nos. 22161, 22162
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of, while employed and on duty as a nurse, requesting and permitting co-workers to start an intravenous line on her and to infuse intravenous fluids and medications into her, despite the fact that no physician or other authorized practitioner had ordered same, and despite the fact that licensee was not a registered patient in the hospital at the time.

Francine M. Crowley, Elmira Heights, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 164419, 358537; Cal. Nos. 22168, 22167
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of willful physical abuse of a patient.

Marie Enendine Darang, Garfield, NJ
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 493914; Cal. No. 18324
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005 (see also October 1999)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Annulment of license.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of falsely indicating on her application for licensure as a registered professional nurse in the State of New York that she had received a basic nursing education at Ecole Nationale D’Infirmieres de Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Patricia A. Dittmeier a/k/a Patricia Ann Sliwinski, Great Neck, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 093216, 384231; Cal. Nos. 22157, 22158
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of offering to practice the profession of nursing beyond the scope permitted by law.

Thomas Joseph Drzymala, West Seneca, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 177512, 385369; Cal. Nos. 22148, 21970
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005 (see also December 1998)
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite actual suspension until fit to practice – upon licensee’s return to practice, 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of having three convictions for Criminal Contempt in the 2nd Degree.

Timothy Stephen Emanuel, Springfield Gardens, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 424080; Cal. No. 21524
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: 3 year suspension, execution of suspension stayed, probation 1 year, $1,750 fine.
Summary: Licensee was found to be guilty of: having been convicted of Attempted Assault in the 3rd Degree, a class B misdemeanor; having been convicted of Petit Larceny, a class A misdemeanor; practicing the profession of nursing fraudulently in that licensee knowingly checked the “no” choice box with respect to the question of whether he had been criminally convicted when he submitted his re-registration document.

George Fitzgerald, Peekskill, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 232024; Cal. No. 22197
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of having two convictions for Driving While Intoxicated, of willfully filing a false report in that he falsely answered “no” to a question on his licensure re-registration application which asked whether he had been convicted of a crime, and of administering insulin to a patient with a blood sugar level which he thought was normal when it was actually below normal.

Pomeroyal Charles Fountain, Ithaca, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 498471; Cal. No. 20681
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: 36 months of suspension, execution of last 24 months of suspension stayed, probation for last 24 months, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of signing medication administration records for twelve patients, indicating the administration of ointments, but failed to administer those ointments.

Antonia L. Gluck a/k/a Antonia Liotta, New Hyde Park, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 225482, 472839; Cal. Nos. 22163, 22164
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of starting an intravenous line on and administering intravenous fluids and medications to a nursing colleague in the absence of an order therefore.

Margaret Mary Harper, Schenectady, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 228307; Cal. No. 22315
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005 (see also April 1998)
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of failing to administer prescribed medications and documenting otherwise.

Marilyn Landolfi, Maspeth, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 194412, 404505; Cal. Nos. 22108, 22109
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite suspension until fit to practice – upon licensee’s return to practice, 2 years probation, $1,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of falsely charting that she was administering to patients morphine sulfate that she withdrew from the hospital's supply.

Lucille Lerner, Long Beach, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 107100; Cal. No. 21090
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Censure and Reprimand, 1 year probation, $250 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of committing an act of neglect on a person receiving care and services in a residential health care facility.

Delia J. Liley, Far Rockaway, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 080552; Cal. No. 21089
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 month actual suspension, 23 months stayed suspension, 2 years probation.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of committing an act of abuse on a person receiving services in a residential health care facility.

Donna B. Martinez, Cheektowaga, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 254175; Cal. No. 22254
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
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 Petit Larceny.

Mariamma Mathew, Albertson, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 257305, 502854; Cal. Nos. 22063, 22062
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Indefinite suspension under the terms as set forth in the consent order application – upon licensee’s return to practice, 2 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges that she failed to notify another nurse of a pediatric patient’s acute condition, on two occasions she overmedicated a pediatric patient, and she failed to check a pediatric patient’s height and weight before administering medication.

William Kenneth Meyer, South Farmingdale, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 249370; Cal. No. 21717
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Partial actual suspension of license, 24 months probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of failing to administer ordered medications to several patients and indicating on the medication administration record that he had administered them.

Mijung Nam, Hillcrest, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 466763; Cal. No. 22159
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of starting an intravenous line on a nursing colleague, in the absence of an order therefore.

Paulita Ortiz, Wantagh, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 468272; Cal. No. 22160
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of offering to practice the profession of nursing beyond the scope permitted by law.

David Rabinowitz, Fayetteville, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse, Lic. No. 503243; Cal. No. 20891
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Found guilty of professional misconduct; Penalty: Revocation.
Summary: Licensee was found guilty of improperly infusing a Nitroprusside solution into a patient and continuing to improperly infuse this medication in an effort to reverse the decrease of the patient’s blood pressure without notifying the patient’s medical care team.

Vishnu Dyal Ramdass, Hollis, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse, Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. Nos. 175524, 438619; Cal. Nos. 20834, 20835
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 12 months stayed suspension, 12 months probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of failing to maintain a record for a patient which accurately reflected the evaluation and treatment of the patient.

Mary E. Smiley, Phoenix, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 268575; Cal. No. 22133
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Partial actual suspension, 2 years probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges of medication errors and inaccurate record keeping.

Cheryal Ann Spooney, Hempstead, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 486800; Cal. No. 22028
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 3 month actual suspension, 21 months stayed suspension, concurrent 2 year period of probation.
Summary: Licensee admitted to charges that on numerous occasions she failed to administer ordered medication; she failed to document the severity of a patient’s condition; she mislabeled a laboratory specimen; and she left a medication cart unattended.

Michelle Tallos-Amato, Franklin Square, NY
Profession: Registered Professional Nurse; Lic. No. 502258; Cal. No. 22165
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $500 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of starting an intravenous line on and administering intravenous fluids and medications to a nursing colleague in the absence of an order therefore.

Katherine Marie Taylor, Bronx, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 270300; Cal. No. 22306
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of administering a medication to a patient intravenously, whereas the physician's order directed that it be administered intramuscularly, and of inaccurately charting in the patient’s medication administration record that the medication was administered intramuscularly.

Brendan Patrick Tunney, Rochester, NY
Profession: Licensed Practical Nurse; Lic. No. 222806; Cal. No. 22140
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $250 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having committed a medication error.

Optometry

Steven Kornblatt, East Northport, NY
Profession: Optometrist; Lic. No. 004541; Cal. No. 22221
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of two counts of Forcible Touching, a class A misdemeanor.

Pharmacy

John Andrew Grimaldi, Gouverneur, NY
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 035714; Cal. No. 22055
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of one count of Grand Larceny in the 1st Degree and four counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the 1st Degree.

Newton E. Igbinaduwa, Jamaica, NY
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 036673; Cal. No. 22305
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Grand Larceny in the 3rd Degree.

Jennifer Kim, Fort Lee, NJ
Profession: Pharmacist; Lic. No. 047765; Cal. No. 22135
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 2 year suspension, execution of last 15 months of suspension stayed, 2 years probation, $2,500 fine.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of billing for pharmaceutical services that were not rendered.

Podiatry

Cherie L. Galler, Maspeth, NY
Profession: Podiatrist; Lic. No. 003734; Cal. No. 20874
Regents Action Date:September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee did not contest the charge of surgically removing a callus from the finger of a patient and prescribing medication and bras to treat a rash on a patient’s breast.

Public Accountancy

William Michael Hollar, Leonia, NJ
Profession: Certified Public Accountant; Lic. No. 063517; Cal. No. 22059
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application to surrender license granted.
Summary: Licensee admitted to the charge of having been convicted of Petit Larceny.

Veterinary Medicine

Carlos Basabe, Brentwood, NY
Profession:Veterinarian; Lic. No. 009156; Cal. No. 22037
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: 1 year stayed suspension, 1 year probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of failing to take a health history, perform a full examination, or perform pre-surgical testing on a cat prior to performing a spay.

Jon David Redfield, Fredonia, NY
Profession:Veterinarian; Lic. No. 006619; Cal. No. 22207
Regents Action Date: September 9, 2005
Action: Application for consent order granted; Penalty agreed upon: Censure and Reprimand, 1 year probation, $1,000 fine.
Summary: Licensee did not contest charges of failing to timely diagnose a dog’s medical condition and performing surgery on the dog with a coagulation problem.

For further information: dplsdsu@mail.nysed.gov
Last Update: October 17, 2005
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