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State suspends N. Fort Myers doctor's license

Posted on Dec 23, 2006

State suspends N. Fort Myers doctor's license Accused of inappropriate prescription of drugs By JACOB OGLES jogles@news-press.com Originally posted on December 22, 2006 DELIVERING YOUR WORLD • Subscribe to The News-Press • Place a classified ad • Printer friendly version • Email this article Following the death by overdose of at least three of his patients, a North Fort Myers physician Thursday was suspended by the Florida Department of Health. Dr. Ephraim Aguilar is accused of inappropriately prescribing addictive drugs and not keeping legible, accurate records. Aguilar could not be reached for comment Thursday. His emergency suspension was announced by the state Department of Health. Aguilar's license expires in January 2008. While he is suspended, Aguilar is prohibited from practicing medicine in Florida. "The Legislature has vested a trust and confidence in the licensed professionals who prescribe, administer and dispense controlled substances in the state of Florida," said Health secretary M. Rony Franois. "Aguilar's excessive and inappropriate prescribing of highly addictive controlled substances to patients presents a danger to the public health and does not correspond to that level of professional conduct expected of a person licensed to practice medicine in this state." The Medical Examiner's Office contacted the health department concerning four deaths which occurred in October. All four of the deceased were patients of Aguilar and had been prescribed medication by the doctor. The official cause of death in at least three of the patients was "drug toxicity." Aguilar's primary practice is at 1890 North Tamiami Trail in North Fort Myers, according to state records. The Department of Health was contacted by the Medical Examiner's Office earlier this month. Aguilar earned his medical degree at the University of the Philippines and has previously worked in the anesthesiology departments at John Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, Albert Einstein Medical School and Community General Hospital in Pennsylvania and Carbrini Medical Center in New York. He has practiced since the late 1950s. Records show he has not been disciplined by a licensing agency, specialty board or health agency in the last 10 years. Those records also indicate he does not have hospital staff privileges right now. The decision to suspend Aguilar was made by the Division of Medical Quality Assurance, which regulates numerous health care professions in Florida and evaluated the credentials for licensed physicians and investigates claims against them.