Doctor’s case might be dismissed

Beth Slovic

Friday, June 4, 2004 | 9:58 a.m.

The state Board of Medical Examiners, the regulatory agency that governs doctors and others, is expected to dismiss its disciplinary case against Kurt Buzard during its meetings today and Saturday.

Buzard, a Las Vegas ophthalmologist, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor shortly after he was arrested in September 2003 on charges of cocaine possession, Richard Wright, his lawyer in the criminal case, said. The police found more than 2 grams of cocaine in Buzard's car when he was pulled over, they said.

Buzard, who owns Buzard Eye Institute on West Sahara Avenue, was in a treatment program when the board initially filed the complaint against him, according to Drennan A. Clark, the medical board's executive secretary. The board's policy is to hold off in disciplining doctors who are seeking help for drug-related problems that do not affect their work, Clark said.

"We're dismissing that complaint because we shouldn't have filed it," Clark said.

Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, who has been critical of the board in the past, said of the dismissal, "That scares me. It sounds like the way they're looking at this issue is flawed."

After his arrest last year, Buzard sought help from the Nevada Health Professionals Assistance Foundation, a treatment program contracted by the Board of Medical Examiners, John Hunt, Buzard's lawyer in the board proceedings, said.

"This was just an administrative glitch," Hunt said. "This had nothing to do with patient care; it was an isolated incident."

Buzard, who also has an active license in Arizona, is under investigation in that state, though its regulatory agency hasn't taken disciplinary action. Because the case is ongoing, Arizona officials would not comment.