The state Medical Examining Board disciplined four doctors on Tuesday, including reprimanding and fining a prominent Norwalk plastic surgeon $2,500 for failing to keep adequate medical records.
The medical license of the plastic surgeon, Dr. Laurence Kirwan, was also placed on probation for four months while he must complete a course in medical documentation, a consent order states.
In 2015, the mother of a patient who had two chin procedures from Kirwan in 2014 filed a complaint with the state Department of Public Health, records show. A plastic surgery consultant found that Kirwan’s treatment records did not meet the standard of care, records show.
On his blog, Kirwan says he is a professor and an internationally recognized expert in plastic surgery who has practiced in Norwalk, Manhattan and London. He says he has treated many celebrities, with articles referencing his surgery on Swedish and British television star Ulrika Jonsson. He has also treated Croatian children with war injuries and hosted “Botox parties” that were covered by The New York Times.
By signing the consent order with the board, Kirwan chose not to contest the allegations against him while admitting no wrongdoing.
The board also fined Dr. Brian Malone of Canton $3,000, reprimanded him and placed his medical license on probation for two years. Board records show that in July 2016, he gave morphine and Ativan, a drug used to treat anxiety, to a patient four months after having surrendered his controlled substance registration to the state Department of Consumer Protection, board records show.
Records show that in April of this year, Malone was diagnosed with alcohol use disorder and/or depressive disorder, and state officials said those conditions may affect his ability to safely practice medicine.
Malone chose not to contest the allegations and agreed to the penalties in a consent order with the board.
The board also reprimanded a Danbury psychiatrist in connection with false Medicare claims he made between 2009 and 2015, according to a consent order with Dr. Anton Fry. The consent order said that Fry knowingly submitted bills for Medicare reimbursement for non-reimbursable telephone counseling and paid $18,000 to the federal government to settle the U.S. Department of Justice case against him. DPH Staff Attorney David Tilles told the board this was not a case of fraud.
In 2016, U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly announced that Fry and his mental health practice, CPC Associates of Danbury, were paying a total of $36,704 to settle allegations that they violated the U.S. False Claims Act.
While admitting no wrongdoing, Fry chose not to contest the charges against him when he agreed to the consent order with the medical board.
The board also reprimanded Dr. Dennis Sivak, a retired gynecologist from the Greens Farms section of Westport, for failing to review the results of a patient’s Pap smear in 2013 and failing to inform her that the results were abnormal, a consent order states.
Sivak has been retired for three years but has renewed his medical license so the board is also requiring him to give 90 days’ notice to DPH before treating any patients, the consent order said.
In an unrelated case in 2015, the board had fined Sivak $1,000 for letting an unlicensed medical assistant operate a laser device for hair removal at the Avery Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology in Westport.
To settle a court case, the board also accepted a stipulated agreement that Dr. Wilson Bernales of Fayetteville, Arkansas be fined $5,000 and that he agrees not to renew his medical license in Connecticut for two years.
In May, the board had revoked Bernales’ medical license for lying in 2014 when he applied for his Connecticut license and was asked if he had faced any termination from a training program, the board’s May memorandum of decision states. Bernales had been fired from an internship in Rome, Georgia in 2002, the memorandum states.
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Shapiro told the board Tuesday that Bernales had appealed the revocation to Superior Court and the stipulated agreement will settle the case if it is accepted by the court.
