POULSBO — A Poulsbo pharmacist overprescribed medication to a patient from January 2009 to July 2010, the state Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission determined, and faces sanctions that could include revocation of his license.
The commission states that Nicholas Wyatt, while pharmacist at now-defunct Liberty Bay Internal Medicine, gave a patient being seen for severe insomnia a prescription for Ambien, even though Wyatt was not registered with the Drug Enforcement Agency to do so.
The commission states that Wyatt prescribed the patient 10 times the recommended daily dose of Ambien “without expert consultation,” putting the patient at risk of “negative side effects including exhibiting aggressive behaviors and experiencing memory loss.”
The decision was issued Aug. 14 and signed by commission executive director Chris Humberson and Assistant Attorney General Kristin Brewer. Wyatt said he filed a response on Sept. 9. Next, there will be a hearing.
According to the Revised Code of Washington, his license could be suspended, restricted, limited or revoked; he could be required to complete a program of remedial education or treatment; he could be censured, reprimanded or placed on probation; and he could be fined $5,000 per violation. “Because the case is ongoing, we’re not going to comment right now,” Wyatt said Sept. 10.
Wyatt, who now works at Harrison Medical Center, was director of pharmacology at Liberty Bay Internal Medicine when the incidents in the findings occurred. Liberty Bay’s medical director, Narinder Duggal, lost his license and was sued by three former patients in Superior Court for alleged malpractice and sexual assault.
Duggal is trying to get his license restored and, in a phone call to the Herald on July 17, Duggal said he intended to “fight every one of these cases.” He said his accusers are “liars.”
Here’s where the cases stand:
— Lawsuit dismissed “with prejudice”: On June 19, Superior Court Judge William Houser dismissed a plaintiff’s malpractice lawsuit against Duggal and Wyatt after she stated “in open court that she will not be presenting evidence at the time the case is scheduled to be read … and is not prepared to go forward,” Houser wrote in a document obtained from the Kitsap County Clerk’s online database. Trial was scheduled to begin June 23.“With prejudice” means the case is dismissed permanently.
The plaintiff, who had been represented by a lawyer, represented herself at the pre-trial hearing.
This case was filed March 28, 2013. The plaintiff had alleged the care and treatment she received for drug dependency was negligent. Among the allegations: Duggal failed to “properly diagnose, treat, monitor and supervise” her care and treatment, and incorrectly prescribed medication.The court had earlier denied Duggal’s request that the case be dismissed.
— Appeal of loss of license: Scheduled for Oct. 9 in Thurston County Superior Court. According to court documents, Duggal signed an agreement with the Medical Quality Assurance Commission — called a “Stipulated Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Agreed Order” — on Jan. 15, 2014, in which he agreed to close his practice and surrender his medical license.
On Feb. 4, 2014, Duggal asked that the agreed order be withdrawn. The next day, the commission denied his request and approved the agreed order.Duggal contends the commission denied him due process in not granting him an administrative hearing on his request to withdraw the agreed order.
— Alleged malpractice, sexual assault: Trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 20 in Olsen’s courtroom in a lawsuit brought by a former patient and her husband. Wyatt is also a defendant.
This case was filed Dec. 17, 2012. The former patient alleges the care and treatment she received for pain management was negligent, and also that Duggal sent her sexually graphic text messages and, during one appointment, “assaulted and groped” her. Duggal denies these allegations and the allegations in the other cases.
— Alleged malpractice: A plaintiff’s malpractice lawsuit against Duggal is scheduled for a 10-day jury trial beginning Dec. 8, 2015, in Judge Jay Roof’s courtroom. Among the allegations: Duggal failed to “properly diagnose, treat, monitor and supervise” his care and treatment, and incorrectly prescribed medication. Wyatt was dismissed as a defendant on Dec. 29, 2014.
This case was filed Sept. 22, 2011, in King County Superior Court, with a change of venue to Kitsap County Superior Court on Nov. 2, 2011.
