Psychiatrist John L. Duffy surrenders license on prescription violation charge

December 9, 2011

A 78-year-old physician who practiced psychiatry in Muscatine, Iowa, has voluntarily surrendered his medical license for “failure to conform to the minimal standards…of medicine in Iowa,” according to charges brought out before the Iowa Board of Medicine in Des Moines.

John L. Duffy gave up the medical license on Nov. 18. He first was issued a medical license in Iowa in 1965.

The board charged that Duffy pre-signed more than 100 blank prescriptions that were subsequently used by the staff at Sunrise Enterprises mental health clinic in Muscatine. The prescriptions were written between March 25 and Nov. 4, 2010.

Many of the prescriptions were issued for controlld substances without "appropriate physician oversight of without Duffy's knowledge and consent," the charges read.

Source: Deirdre Cox Baker, "Area physician surrender medical license," The Quad-City Times, November 30, 2011.