CA Medical Board Puts Psychiatrist Nicole Poliquin on Probation over Negligent Prescribing

April 18, 2023

On March 17, 2022, the Medical Board of California ordered that the license of your colleague, Costa Mesa psychiatrist Nicole Poliquin, be revoked. However, the revocation was stayed, and she was placed on probation for a period of four years and was also ordered to reimburse the Board for its costs of investigation and enforcement in the amount of $5,555.00.

According to the Board’s document, Poliquin committed gross negligence in her care and treatment of Patient A, which included prescribing a daily dose of 40 mg of Lexapro, which exceeds the manufacturer’s maximum of 20 mg per day and failing to appropriately manage the dosing error once brought to her attention. Additionally, she provided Patient A with monthly prescriptions for medications, including dextroamphetamine, between March 2017 and May 2020, and only documented five progress notes and one patient intake form during that time period.

The Board noted the follow repeated negligent acts in Poliquin’s care and treatment of Patient A:  

• prescribed psychotropic medications to the patient, who had a history of liver failure, without ever ordering baseline labs to assess liver function;

• prescribed trazadone 150 mg daily between September 2017 and May 2020 without documenting the inclusion of this medication in the patient’s treatment plan, progress notes, or medication sheets;

• failed to obtain and document informed consent when prescribing gabapentin;

• failed to obtain a detailed and thorough prescription substance abuse history before prescribing Dexedrine; 

• failed to obtain and document informed consent for Dexedrine; 

• failed to clearly document her rationale for increasing dexedrine beyond the recommended daily dose; 

• failed to set firm limits and continuously provided refills of dexedrine despite patient’s  substance abuse history and his repeated overuse of this medication.

Source: In the Matter of the First Amended Accusation Against Nicole Poliquin, M.D., Physician's & Surgeon's License no. A30419, Case no. 800-2018-042938, Medical Board of California, Feb. 15, 2022.