New England psychiatrist with lengthy history of disciplinary action gets license suspended

October 12, 2017

Reinaldo de los Heros, a psychiatrist in New England with a lengthy history of disciplinary action, had his license immediately suspended by the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine.  The Board called his care an "immediate jeopardy to the health and physical safety of the public who might receive his medical services."

According to documents obtained by the CBS Boston I-Team, board members received evidence that de los Heros prescribed pills to a patient he knew was in jail and then falsified the medical records to show the patient made a 25-minute office visit.

The doctor has a long history of troubling medical care and disciplinary action.  For example, in 2015, de los Heros starting treating Kelly Deyo, a recovering heroin addict.  A month later, Deyo was found dead inside her apartment surrounded by 19 empty pill bottles that had all been prescribed by de los Heros.  

Deyo's mother filed a complaint with the Maine licensing board after her daughter's death, but the only action the board took was to place him on six months of supervised probation.  This is despite the fact that records show he was repeatedly disciplined or warned about his prescribing habits. He even lost his medical license in Massachusetts for several years after a felony conviction for Medicaid fraud in 1997.

The Board will have a hearing within the next 30 days to determine the psychiatrist’s punishment, which could include revocation of his license.

SOURCE: Ryan Kath, "I-Team: New England Psychiatrist With Troubling History Has License Suspended," CBS Boston, 11 Oct 2017, http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/10/11/psychiatrist-troubling-history-license-suspended/.