POULSBO — Thurston County Superior Court on Oct. 9 upheld a Poulsbo man’s loss of his medical license. His attorney indicated they may appeal.

“We’re working on something,” said Thomas S. Olmstead, attorney for Narinder M. Duggal, who owned and operated the now-defunct Liberty Bay Internal Medicine at Bond Road and Highway 305.

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. The commission had investigated allegations made by eight patients and determined he had been negligent in his care, overprescribed medication and made sexual advances toward a patient.

On Feb. 4, 2014, Duggal asked that the agreed order be withdrawn. The next day, the commission denied the request and approved the agreed order. Duggal contended the commission denied him due process in not granting him an administrative hearing on his request.

Olmstead said he came in late as Duggal’s attorney — after the doctor signed the agreed order — and, upon reviewing the presented evidence, felt “all the allegations were totally defensible.” So they withdrew the agreement, which he said wasn’t effective because it hadn’t been accepted by the Medical Quality Assurance Commission.

In February 2014, “I wasn’t allowed to speak at that hearing to say we withdrew the agreement,” Olmstead said. “The whole thing is a kangaroo court, as far as I’m concerned.”

Meanwhile, Duggal is being sued in Kitsap County Superior Court by two former patients for alleged malpractice and sexual assault; he is represented in the civil cases by Thomas Fain of Seattle.

A third lawsuit was dismissed after the plaintiff, who was representing herself, said four days before trial was to begin “that she will not be presenting evidence at the time the case is scheduled to be read … and is not prepared to go forward,” Superior Court Judge William Houser wrote in a document obtained from the Kitsap County Clerk’s online database.

Court dates near in the other two lawsuits.

— Alleged malpractice, sexual assault: Trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 20 in Superior Court Judge Sally Olsen’s courtroom in a lawsuit brought by a former patient and her husband.

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.

Olmstead said there was “mutual contact” between Duggal and his patient, and that Duggal had told her he could no longer be her doctor. He said the patient had gone to Duggal’s house and that the contact occurred there, not in the office. “His office doors are open,” Olmstead said.

— Alleged malpractice: A plaintiff’s malpractice lawsuit against Duggal is scheduled for a 10-day jury trial beginning Dec. 8 in Superior Court 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.

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.

Meanwhile, the state Pharmacy Quality Assurance Commission has determined Nicholas E. Wyatt, who was pharmacist at Liberty Bay Internal Medicine, overprescribed medication to a patient from January 2009 to July 2010. He faces sanctions that could include revocation of his license.

The commission states that Wyatt, while pharmacist at 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.