Doctor faces charges in usage of drugs

By Cy Ryan

Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2004 | 11:11 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Dr. Edward Hoffman, a Las Vegas osteopath, is facing charges from two state regulatory boards that he practiced medicine without permission and that he possessed drugs such as botox and flu vaccine that were not approved by the federal government.

The state Board of Osteopathic Medicine holds a hearing on Saturday in Las Vegas and the state Pharmacy Board has set Jan. 13 for its disciplinary hearing, also in Las Vegas.

Trey Delap, deputy director of the osteopathic board, said Hoffman settled a complaint in May this year on an allegation of sexual misconduct with a patient that had been filed a long time ago. The settlement called for Hoffman to go into treatment and not to practice until he completed his treatment and received permission from the board.

Delap said Hoffman was "kicked out" of the treatment program and continued to practice without board permission. He said Hoffman maintains the treatment program was improper and he denied he practiced without permission of the board.

Hoffman, who practiced at the Nevada Institute for Wellness and Longevity (2701 North Tenaya Way), could not be reached for comment. But his lawyer, Dominic Gentile, said Tuesday, "We didn't violate the stipulation. As is usual the case is not as simple as it looks from the outside."

The Pharmacy Board, acting on a tip, raided Hoffman's Las Vegas office Dec. 2. Louis Ling, attorney for the board, said a "summary suspension" was imposed the following day, prohibiting Hoffman from dispensing controlled substances or dispensing drugs from his office.

The raid found purchase orders dated Sept. 20, 2004, that Dr. Hoffman bought four vials of botox from a company called Toxin Research International Inc., in Tucson, Ariz. The company is not approved by the FDA and the state of Nevada for manufacture or distribution of the drug called Stabilized Botulinum Neurotoxin type A.

On the invoice and on the vials was printed, "For research purposes only, not for human use."

Another invoice showed Dr. Hoffman purchased two vials of botox from the same company and with the same warning. The complaint of the pharmacy board said despite the caution, "Dr. Hoffman personally and through his staff administered the botulinum toxin type A obtained from Toxin Research International to various of his patients."

An inventory of drugs by the pharmacy board found only one partial vial of botox left. There is concern this is the same product that may have caused botulism in Florida and New Jersey.

The pharmacy board said it is not known if any patients suffered any harm. Dr. Hoffman told a Las Vegas television station that the patients did not suffer any ill effects.

The two state boards and the Clark County Health Division issued a statement last week to residents that there have been cases of botulism in other states and to be aware of the symptoms, said Delap.

Ling also said the investigation turned up flu vaccine that had been purchased from Canada and it also was not approved by the FDA. "In both of those cases, he actually injected them into patients," said Ling.

The complaint said Dr. Hoffman received 12-15 vials of flu vaccine made by a company called Shire Biologics of Canada. Hoffman, according to the accusation, advertised he would provide injections of flu vaccine to the public.

The complaint said Dr. Hoffman and his staff administered about 75 injections of the vaccine at $40 per injection. The vaccine called Fluviral is not approved by the FDA for use in this country. Dr. Hoffman told board officials he purchased the vaccine from a source on the Internet and he did not maintain any records of the transaction.

The pharmacy board also found a drug from Mexico called Clenpuperol. Ling said the FDA says the drug assists horses with breathing problems. It also is not approved by the FDA for use in this country.

The complaint said Dr. Hoffman was dispensing these drugs even though his license "had been suspended by the Nevada State Board of Osteopathic Medicine on May 15." The investigation said that Dr. Hoffman authorized and refilled existing prescriptions for controlled substances "numerous times" after May 15.

Keith Macdonald, executive secretary of the pharmacy board, said emergency action was necessary in issuing the summary suspension of the drug dispensing license in an effort to protect the "public safety, safety or welfare."

Gentile said his associate Kathleen Jensen was handling the complaint involving the pharmacy board complaint. She could not be reached for comment.