SKOWHEGAN — A doctor in Skowhegan has been fined by the state licensing board for failing to identify an incorrect medication given to a patient who later died.

Dr. Deep Acharya accepted a reprimand and was fined $1,000 in a consent agreement with the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine, said a news release from the board on Tuesday.

The board received information from the Maine Department of Health and Human services regarding the patient’s death, according to the release. Acharya gave out the medication, which had been prescribed to the patient a day earlier by another practitioner.

An incorrect and excessive dose of medication had been included in instructions when the patient was discharged from the hospital and Acharya did not notice the error, according to the release.

Acharya admitted to the licensing board that he thought the medication had been specifically prescribed to the patient and that the incorrect dosage “did not strike his attention,” according to the release by Randal Manning of the state board.

“Dr. Acharya admitted that, looking back, he would have paid closer attention to the medication reconciliation process, which would have helped him identify the abnormal drug dosing,” said the release.

Doug Harlow can be contacted at 612-2367 or at: dharlow@centralmaine.com

 


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