Skip to main content

Alpena Physician Has License Summarily Suspended

August 18, 2008

The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has immediately suspended the license to practice medicine of Robert Eugene Thompson, M.D. The DCH Bureau of Health Professions orders a summary suspension when it believes that the public's health, safety, and welfare warrant emergency action.

Between the time period of January 2007 and April 2007, Thompson, 66, of Hubbard Lake, was requiring a patient to pay administrative fees for writing narcotic prescriptions and was falsely billing the patient's insurance company for office visits that were not performed. From February 2008, through June 2008, Thompson was prescribing controlled substances, including methadone, without being registered pursuant to the United States Controlled Substance Act as an opioid treatment program. In addition, Thompson failed to perform complete physical examinations on patients to whom he was prescribing multiple controlled substances; failed to refer the patients for psychological evaluations and counseling to address narcotic addiction issues; failed to request that patients submit to laboratory blood testing and urine drugs screens to monitor drug use: and failed to ensure that patients were not obtaining narcotics from other providers. On

August 4, 2008, MDCH issued an order summarily suspending Thompson's medical license. An administrative hearing will be scheduled to address the status of Thompson's license.

For more information on disciplinary actions taken by the health professional licensing boards within MDCH, please go to http://www.michigan.gov/mdch, and click on Health Systems and Licensing.