State suspends Las Vegas doctor

Monday, April 4, 2005 | 8:54 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Medical Examiners Board said Friday it has issued an emergency suspension of the license of a Las Vegas physician who is accused of over-prescribing narcotics that may have killed two patients.

The board has filed a complaint against Dr. Armando Miciano alleging that his continued practice in Nevada would endanger his patients and the public.

A hearing before the board has been set for June 23-24 seeking to permanently revoke the license. Tony Clark, executive director of the board, said Miciano has disappeared and face-to-face service of the complaint could not be accomplished.

The complaint said Miciano failed "to use the reasonable care, skill or knowledge ordinarily used in providing care and treatment to patients."

Miciano had been treating a 54-year-old man for severe pain from July 2002 until his death in 2004. A coroner's report said the man died from excessive prescription drugs in his system.

A 46-year-old woman who had been under Miciano's care died in December 2003, also from excessive prescription narcotics, the complaint said.

Clark said the board, the federal Drug Enforcement Administation, the state attorney general's office and the Nevada Division of Investigations all joined in the investigation of Miciano.

Miciano was licensed in Nevada in 1997 and specialized in pain management and physical rehabilitation.

His name will be placed on a national list to caution other states not to permit him to practice, Clark said.

The board also announced it has issued an emergency suspension of the license of Dr. Tarek Greiss of Reno for overuse of prescription narcotics. The complaint said Greiss is "unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety" because of his use of drugs.

It said Greiss was "habitually dependent on controlled subtances" and he failed to participate in a treatment program.

His hearing is set for August.