California Medical Board Will Discipline Psychiatrist Jennifer Dore over Prescribing Violations

September 6, 2023

On August 10, 2022, the Medical Board of California issued an Accusation against psychiatrist Jennifer Dore of Woodside, California.

The Board found that Dore committed unprofessional conduct, gross negligence, repeated negligent acts, incompetence, drug related violations, and violation of ethical standards. These Accusations were amended on June 21, 2023, to include further violations.

Patient A: Dore provided ketamine in a dangerous and inappropriate manner by dispensing sublingual ketamine troches for the patient to take at home to self-dose without any medical supervision. Dore did not conduct an appropriate medical examination or assessment, did not document a legitimate medical indication, and did have regular office visits with the patient. She also administered ketamine injections to the patient at her clinic at “medication management sessions” while the patient’s psychologist was present and while Patient A lay in the psychologist’s lap.

Dore violated ethical principles and professional boundaries by hiring Patient A as an employee at her psychiatric clinic and by inviting the patient to an overnight work trip. According to Dore, Patient A may have gone into her bedroom at that event. Dore allowed Patient A, her employee at her psychiatry clinic, access to other patients’ confidential psychiatric medical records for non-treatment purposes and which led to a privacy breach which Dore did not address.

Patient B: Dore treated an immediate family member from 2014 through 2020. Between 2019 and 2020, she prescribed controlled substances to this person including clonazepam and Adderall. The prescriptions were filled at three separate pharmacies.

Dore also prescribed to her own treating psychiatrist. Over the course of six years, between 2015 and 2021, she wrote 40 prescriptions for controlled substances including ketamine, Adderall, and Adderall XR. The prescriptions were filled at three separate pharmacies. Dore engaged in a relationship wherein she and her psychiatrist were each other’s doctors and patients. Such actions violate patient-physician boundaries and ethical standards.

Source: Accusation in the Matter of the Accusation Against Jennifer Dore, M.D., Physician's and Surgeon's Certificate No. A117017, Case No. 800-2020-069197, Medical Board of California, August 10, 2022