BIDDEFORD — On Tuesday, a Biddeford doctor signed a consent agreement, accepting two reprimands from the Board of Licensure in Medicine.

Earlier this year, the board received a complaint from a patient of Dr. Nicholas Handanos, stating that he didn’t order an annual mammogram for her, even though she had a family history of breast cancer, and that he failed to send the patient to the emergency room after diagnosing her with congestive heart failure.

As a result of signing the consent agreement, Handanos “shall ensure that he follows up on all patient testing as indicated in the record and shall urgently order testing when presented with symptoms that call for urgent testing,” according to a prepared statement from the board.

In addition to the reprimands, Handanos was fined $1,000.

According to the consent agreement, the complaint was made on July 10, 2013.

“I do not have an adequate explanation as to why I did not order another mammogram,” said Handanos, acknowledging that the patient should have been offered a mammogram every two years.

Regarding the heart care issue, Handanos stated that he diagnosed the patient with congestive heart failure in November 2011, but because she had a high oxygen-saturation level, he felt “the workup for CHF could be performed in a routine manner” and didn’t require immediate emergency care.

Handanos also said he never received a message informing him that the patient called back several days later, saying she still had a bad cough.

On May 13, 2014, the board reviewed the complaint and related documents, and voted to offer Handanos the consent agreement. By signing the agreement, Handanos waived any and all objections.

He also admitted that his actions constituted unprofessional conduct, incompetence and grounds for discipline.

By signing the document, the complaint was resolved without further proceedings.

All board disciplinary actions are reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank, the Health Integrity and Protection Data Bank and the Federation of State Medical Boards Action Data Bank. State licensing boards throughout the country review these reports regularly, according to the statement.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.

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