This story is part of a major investigation by 鶹ý and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel into physicians who had public actions against their licenses in one state, but are able to practice elsewhere with "clean" licenses.
In 2012, William McCutchen III, DO, was convicted of drunk driving in North Carolina, and voluntarily inactivated his license in the state while he was under investigation.
He spent 6 weeks in a rehab program, but he still lost his hospital privileges at First Health Carolinas, a Southern healthcare network, that same year.
McCutchen (not to be confused with urologist William McCutchen, MD, of Birmingham, Ala.) soon took a job at the Meghnot Comprehensive Center for Hope, a pain clinic located in an old Tudor-style home in Ann Arbor, Mich.
According to the U.S. Justice Department investigation that led to McCutchen's arrest in 2015, he and other doctors at the practice would see patients who paid $250 in cash for a visit. Those patients would then be sent home with a prescription for narcotic painkillers.
In all, the doctors there prescribed millions of pills over a 5-year period while the clinic took in $4.5 million in revenue. McCutchen and another doctor, Anthony Conrardy, MD, were sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for their roles in helping run the operation. Lillian Meghnot, 86, the clinic owner, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, healthcare fraud, and money laundering; another doctor, Sharadchandra Patel, MD, pled guilty to conspiracy.
North Carolina issued a "non-disciplinary consent order" about McCutchen's substance abuse problems in 2014, but it would have been unlikely for the Michigan board to act on that, said Kevin Ray, state licensing spokesman.
He declined to comment specifically on the McCutchen case, but said "an action deemed 'non-disciplinary' by another state may not be considered an adverse administrative action under the Michigan Public Health Code."
After his indictment in 2015 and conviction last March, Virginia suspended McCutchen's license in September. North Carolina followed up with a voluntary surrender, as well.
In September, the Michigan board suspended his license based on that conviction -- but only after being asked about it by a reporter.
McCutchen's attorney, Ronald Chapman II, said his client "was very unlucky in how circumstances played out."
McCutchen found work at the clinic through a well-regarded Atlanta firm. He spent just 7 months at the clinic before he left, Chapman said.
"But for him responding to a placement ad by a reputable physician placement service, he wouldn't have been in Michigan, he wouldn't have been at this practice," Chapman said. "He was thrust into an environment he wasn't comfortable in."
McCutchen is scheduled to be released next year. Chapman said he did not know whether McCutchen intends to practice again.