Psychiatrist Peter L. Campbell surrenders Pennsylvania license; has lost licenses in four other states

March 1, 2011

On October 26, 2010, psychiatrist Peter L. Campbell permanently and voluntarily surrendered his license to the Pennsylvania Department of State, based on having had disciplinary action taken upon him by the licensing board of another state. 

On August 2, 2010, Campbell surrendered his license to the Virginia Board of Medicine.  That board’s Consent Order states that while waiting to see a patient incarcerated at a prison facility via a live “tele-med” computer-video communication linking Campbell’s home office and the prison’s examining room, Campbell was observed by prison staff exposing his unclothed lower body on camera.  As a result, his employment was terminated. 

Campbell, who was licensed in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey in addition to Virginia, was restricted from prescribing controlled substances in all five states due to failure to properly manage the care and treatment of 11 patients in Virginia. 

The Virginia Board’s May 2009 Order states, among other things, that Campbell “failed to consistently obtain a complete patient history prior to prescribing controlled substances; prescribed narcotics and benzodiazepines [tranquilizers] to patients without performing any physical examination, evaluation or assessment…[and] without diagnosing a medical condition justifying such prescriptions, ordering diagnostic tests to determine the etiology of the patient’s pain or documenting his reasons for selecting the…medications prescribed; prescribed controlled substances to patients who exhibited drug-seeking behavior or who he knew or should have known were abusing or had become addicted to…their medications and repeatedly authorized early refills…without any medical indication other than information provided…by the patients themselves (i.e. medications reported by patients as lost, stolen, disappeared, left in Hawaii, vomited up, destroyed by fire etc. and other non-verified explanations provided by patients.)” 

Source: January 2011 Disciplinary Action report of the Pennsylvania Department of State, as posted on the Department’s website; Consent Order In Re: Peter L. Campbell, M.D., License No. 0101-029943, Before the Board of Medicine (Virginia), May 22, 2009 and Consent Order in the Matter of the License of Peter L. Campbell, M.D., License No. MA85460, New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners, October 15, 2009.