HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (WBBM) -- The state of Illinois is moving to revoke the license of an orthopedic surgeon from Highland Park who is accused of prescribing thousands of pain-killers to a handful of patients, at least three of whom later died.
WBBM's Bob Roberts has the story.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended the license of Dr. Gerald Saul Kane late Wednesday.
Lake County (Ill.) Coroner Dr. Richard Keller said in two cases documented by his office last fall, abuse of drugs prescribed by Dr. Kane were deemed the cause of death.
Keller said he complained to state and federal regulators following a December autopsy on an individual found to have 110 pills in his stomach.
The state's complaint against Dr. Kane indicated that he had written 11 prescriptions for OxyContin, MS Contin, Oxycodone and Roxycodone for the patient, identified in state documents only by the initials of "GAM," in less than four months, before the individual died Dec. 12.
Keller said a dosage of at most four a day would be considered normal, and said the overall size of such prescriptions are usually quite small.
In a second case, involving an individual identified only as "JK" in the state's complaint, Dr. Kane wrote 57 prescriptions for seven different drugs over a one-year period, until two days before JK died last Oct. 29. The drugs included Hydrocodone, Diazepam, Kadian, Norco, Ambien, Hydromorphone and Valium.
Keller said an investigation by his office and the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation indicated that Dr. Kane had issued prescriptions for as many as 200 pills at a time.
The two who died last fall had complained of back pain.
The state investigation turned up a third case, in which Dr. Kane issued 107 prescriptions over 26 months between 2002 and 2004 to a person identified only as "GLM" who complained of back, hip and leg pain and died Oct. 23, 2004. The Lake County Coroner's office did not list a specific cause of death in the case.
Keller said he has turned over information on a "handful" of additional cases to state regulators and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
A spokesman for the Lake County Clerk's office said that to date, no criminal charges are pending.
Dr. Kane has been licensed by the state of Illinois since 1968, and graduated from The Chicago Medical School. He has not been the subject of state complaints or disciplinary action in the past.
He faces a hearing July 3 before an administrative law judge and the state's Medical Disciplinary Board.
WBBM has attempted to contact Dr. Kane for a response.
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