Web prescriptions cost doctor her license
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[February 09, 2006]

Web prescriptions cost doctor her license

(Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Feb. 9--After giving Internet prescriptions for narcotics and weightloss drugs to 663 patients without seeing them in person, Dr. Ruth Ann Holzhauser should lose her license indefinitely, the State Medical Board decided yesterday.



In 2003 and 2004, Holzhauser, a Columbus doctor, worked for MedsNationwide, an Internet prescription company based in Florida.

After the company collects medical information from patients, its doctors review the information and consult with patients over the phone before writing a prescription. Holzhauser told the Medical Board that during her work with Meds-Nationwide, she never met with patients face-to-face.



The most commonly prescribed drug was hydrocodone, a powerful and frequently abused painkiller.

In a written response to the accusations, Holzhauser's attorneys said that she acknowledged her wrongdoing, but she did not know she was breaking Ohio law at the time.

Once she knew she was violating the law, she expressed remorse and helped the Medical Board gather information that was used against her, the letter states.

Holzhauser, who was medical director from 1998 until 2003 at Maryhaven, a Columbus alcohol- and drug-treatment center, might appeal the board's ruling in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. Her attorneys did not return a phone call yesterday afternoon.

Permanent revocation is the most severe punishment the board can impose.

mcrane@dispatch.com

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