Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012 | 1:10 p.m.
CARSON CITY — The state Board of Medical Examiners suspended the license of a Las Vegas doctor who has violated state drug regulations in the past.
The board said the “health, safety and welfare of the public is at imminent risk of harm” if Dr. Larry Yee is allowed to continue his practice. His license has been on probation since 2011 for past violations.
Yee was originally licensed in 1982 and lists his specialty as family practice.
The board said Yee voluntary surrendered his Drug Enforcement Administration license in September 2011 to prescribe controlled substances. But an investigatory committee of the medical board said Friday it has evidence that Yee is prescribing controlled substances without Drug Administration approval.
The board in September 2011 suspended the license of Yee because of his “increasingly erratic and inappropriate behavior as witnessed by patients and staff.”
The complaint last year also said he attempted to obtain controlled substances for himself through staff and patients. As a result of that complaint, his license was placed on probation.
The 2011 complaint said an agreement had been reached in 2008 that Yee take periodic psychiatric examinations with the results being forwarded to the board. But the reports stopped coming.
A hearing has been set for 45 days for Yee to respond to the allegations, unless an agreement is reached. Yee could not be reached for comment.
The board also suspended the license of Dr. Richard A. Singer of Las Vegas. Singer has practiced since 1972.
In its complaint, the board said Singer, whose specialty is anesthesiology, had voluntarily surrendered his clinical privileges at Summerlin Hospital and Spring Valley Hospital to continue to practice “while under or to avoid investigation relating to his professional competence or conduct.”
The board said it was previously informed by Singer that he intended to retire. But it says it has now learned Singer intends to practice medicine.
A hearing is also set for 45 days for Singer to respond to the allegations.
Both complaints were signed by Dr. Theodore B. Berndt, chairman of the investigative committee of the medical examiners board. He could not be reached for comment.
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