Virginia Medical Board Prohibits Psychiatrist David W. Reid from Prescribing Narcotics

July 12, 2021

On January 7, 2021, the Virginia Board of Medicine issued an Order restricting the license of Norfolk psychiatrist David W. Reid.

The Order permanently prohibited Reid from treating acute and chronic pain in patients and prohibited him as well from prescribing, administering, or dispensing certain drugs used in the treatment of pain.

The Board’s document provides the details:

“a. On March 23, 2016, Patient A presented to Dr. Reid, a psychiatrist, for a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation at the request of Individual A, a colleague of Dr. Reid's, after being dismissed from another practice due to pain medication violations.

“b. Dr. Reid diagnosed Patient A with severe depression and significant pain related to his arm infections, and agreed to provide pain management to Patient A until his appointment with a pain management specialist in approximately 6 weeks.

“c. Without reviewing the patient's Prescription Monitoring Report or conducting an assessment of the patient's risk of substance abuse, Dr. Reid prescribed Patient A oxymorphone HCl 20mg, oxycodone HCl 30mg, and oxymorphone HCl ER 20mg.

“d. Between April 6, 2016 and July 7,2016, Patient A presented to Dr. Reid's office for 6 separate follow-up appointments. At each appointment, Dr. Reid prescribed varying doses of oxymorphone, oxycodone, and hydromorphone.

“e. According to a July 23, 2016 Progress Note, Dr. Reid noted that Patient A "called over the weekend on 07/23/2016 to explain that he left his medicine in his pocket and his wife put them in the washing machine. None of these meds could be salvaged." In response, Dr. Reid prescribed hydromorphone HCl 32mg #60 and oxymorphone HCI 10mg #180.

“f. Dr. Reid saw Patient A on a monthly basis from August 2016 to October 2019. On each occasion, he prescribed varying doses and quantities of hydromorphone, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone. At no time during the course of treatment did Dr. Reid perform a drug screen or pill count to otherwise ensure that Patient A was taking his medications as directed, or query the PMP. Furthermore, Dr. Reid failed to refer Patient A to a pain management specialist until approximately 7 months after his first office visit.

“g. In April or May 2017, Patient A was arrested for attempting to sell narcotics. Although notified of the circumstances surrounding Patient A's arrest, Dr. Reid continued to prescribe opioids to him for at least another 30 days, as documented in his June 10, 2017 progress note.

“Additionally, in his written statement to the DHF investigator dated August 14, 2019, Dr. Reid acknowledged that he was fully aware of Patient A's history of heroin abuse.”

The Board determined that Reid violated Virginia law and regulations Governing the Prescribing of Opioids and Buprenorphine. Specifically, he “failed to document every three months the rationale to continue opioid therapy for Patient A; failed to update his medical records for Patient A to include various data, including patient's physical examination; applicable records from prior treatment providers or any documentation of attempts to obtain those records; evaluations and consultations; treatment goals; discussion of risks and benefits; and informed consent and agreement for treatment.” The Board also found that “Reid failed to document in Patient A's medical records the presence or absence of any indicators for medication misuse, abuse or diversion, as required by law and also failed to update his medical records to include a written treatment plan, signed by Patient A.”

Further, “a...Reid made false and misleading statements to the Board's investigator relating to the investigation of Patient A. During his telephone interview on September 18, 2019 with the Board’s senior investigator, Reid made the following statements:

• ‘[I] have not provided pain management since the Board issue in 2002.’
• He does not provide pain management even though he is able to.
• He believes the last time he prescribed opioid medications was over 10 years ago.
• [Patient A] is the only patient he has prescribed narcotics to since 2002."
• A review of his prescription profile will show that he does not regularly prescribe narcotic medication and that [Patient A] was [a] single patient occurrence.
• He checked [Patient A's] PMP in 12/2016... and found that he was the only provider prescribing narcotic medication to him.

“b. Contrary to the above statements, Dr. Reid authorized over 55 narcotic prescriptions to 4 different patients (not including Patient A) between 2016 and 2019 as noted in his PMP records.”

Lastly, if “Reid had queried Patient A's PMP record, he would have noted that Patient A received a prescription for oxymorphone as early as 12 days prior to his March 23, 2016 visit. Additionally, Patient A's PMP record lists a prescription for acetaminophen-codeine 300mg-30mg dated June 22,2016 from a prescriber listed as "GRA AN64," someone other than Dr. Reid.”

In April 2004, the Board reprimanded and fined him $3,000 for similar violations involving the prescribing of narcotics for chronic pain.

Source: Consent Order In Re: David William Reid, M.D., license no. 0101-033089, Before the Virginia Board of Medicine, Jan. 6, 2021 and Consent Order In Re: David W. Reid, license no. 0101-033089, Before the Virginia Board of Medicine, April 22, 2004.