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Media Contact: LARA Communications 517-373-9280
Email: mediainfo@michigan.gov
May 15, 2018 - The Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) served an order summarily suspending the medical license of Jackson physician Dana A. DeWitt for overprescribing controlled substances. The Michigan Public Health Code provides for summary suspension of licenses when the public health, safety, or welfare requires emergency action.
LARA also served an accompanying administrative complaint on DeWitt, alleging that he failed to conform to minimal standards of acceptable practice.
In 2017, DeWitt was the top prescriber of carisoprodol (Soma) 350 mg and promethazine with codeine syrup in Jackson County. Both of these prescriptions are commonly abused and diverted controlled substances. Additionally, the complaint alleges that DeWitt prescribed dangerous combinations and dosages that put his patients at greater risk of overdose and death.
Governor Rick Snyder’s Michigan Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Task Force called for a more comprehensive enforcement program against licensed health professionals and facilities who participate in overprescribing and over dispensing.
As a result of collaborative efforts of multiple state agencies, the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed decreased by 10.7 percent since 2015 while the overall number of schedules 2-5 controlled substance prescriptions dispensed decreased by 7.1 percent during that same timespan.
An order of summary suspension is a temporary measure to protect the public and not a final determination that a licensee has violated the Public Health Code.
For more information of LARA’s regulation of health professions in Michigan, please go to michigan.gov/healthlicense.
For more information about LARA, please visit www.michigan.gov/lara
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