Psychiatrist Stuart Tubis Suspended; Prescribed Controlled Substances Without Exams, Inadequate Recordkeeping

August 24, 2018

On August 3, 2018, the California Medical Board suspended the license of psychiatrist Stuart H. Tubis.

The Board’s accusation against Tubis, issued on July 18, indicates that the basis for the suspension was Tubis’ treatment and prescribing practices involving six patients.

The Board accusation describes how Tubis prescribed psychiatric drugs and controlled substances to the patients without conducting adequate patient examinations and failed to maintain adequate records.

A typical finding in the accusation is the one regarding “Patient P-1,” a 25-year-old man whom Tubis first saw on March 23, 2016:

“[His] chart notes for this initial evaluation…was less than half a page of poorly handwritten notes [which] do not include a past medical history; past psychiatric history; past or current substance/alcohol use/abuse history; education, vocational, social, family, or legal history; a mental status examination; list of current medications; or drug allergies. The notes do not include a working diagnosis or a plan for treatment. P-1 told [Tubis] that he had been taking 2mg of alprazolam three times a day and [Tubis] prescribed [the same] without rationale and without documenting having warned P-1 about alprazolam’s sedating effects and habit-forming properties. He also prescribed Ambien for P-1 without noting that the effects of alprazolam and Ambien can be addictive.”

In some cases, Tubis’ chart entries for the various patients consisted of “a few words and do not describe what took place during the visit or whether there was a visit at all.”

Source: Accusation and Modified Interim Order of Suspension in the Matter of the Accusation Against Stuart H. Tubis, M.D., Physician’s and Surgeon’s Certificate No. G13754, Medical Board of California, July 18, 2018 (Accusation) and August 3, 2018 (Suspension).