Medical Board Orders Psychiatrist David Sosin to Cease Practice

February 22, 2019

On February 15, 2019, the Medical Board of California issued a Cease Practice Order on Dr. David Sosin, of the Orange County-based Headache and Attention Deficit Disorder Treatment Center, based on his violation of the terms of a December 2, 2016 Board Order which placed him on five years’ probation.

The 2016 probation was based on a July 2015 Board Accusation which found Dr. Sosin to have committed unprofessional conduct, excessive prescribing, prescribing without an exam, and gross negligence, among other things.

Specifically, in 2009, he diagnosed a patient with ADHD and prescribed him the stimulant drugs Vyvanse, dextroamphetamine, Adderall, and Ritalin. About a year into treatment, the patient disclosed to Dr. Sosin that he was medicating his wife with Lexapro without her knowledge by putting it into her food. Dr. Sosin neither took active steps to stop this dangerous/illegal activity by the patient nor did he immediately cease treatment of the patient, but continued treating him for another two years.

Dr. Sosin has a disciplinary history in California which includes the Board placing him on three years’ probation in 1999 for similar causes as the current disciplinary action (excessive prescribing [of stimulant drugs], gross negligence, prescribing without exam, etc.) and a 2012 Public Letter of Reprimand for prescribing stimulant medication to a patient that exceeded the maximum dosage recommended by the FDA, and failure to provided informed consent concerning the use of combined stimulants, among other things.

In August 2018, the Board issued Dr. Sosin yet another Accusation for causes of excessive prescribing (of multiple stimulant medications), prescribing without an exam, negligence, etc.

Fourteen percent of convictions of psychologists and psychiatrists are for drug-related violations.  

Source: Cease Practice Order in the Matter of the Decision and Order against David Sosin, M.D., Physician’s and Surgeon’s Certificate No. G13099, Case No. 800-2013-000597, Medical Board of California, February 15, 2019.