Ct Med Board Drops Charges Against Doctor, Fines Others

The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday withdrew charges that a Putnam gynecologist had inappropriate physical and sexual contact with a patient because the doctor has agreed to stop practicing medicine.

Dr. Ronald Archibold voluntarily agreed on Dec. 31 not to seek to renew or reinstate his expired medical license, state Department of Public Health records show. In doing so, Archibold did not admit wrongdoing but agreed that if he ever sought to renew his license, he would not contest the charges.

DPH’s charges stated that Archibold engaged in the inappropriate conduct on more than one occasion when providing care to a patient between August 2008 and October 2011. Since Archibold has agreed not to seek a license renewal, the prosecution of the case is unnecessary, DPH Principal Attorney Matthew S. Antonetti wrote to the board.

On Tuesday, the board also fined six Westport doctors $1,000 each for “acting illegally” when, DPH records show, they delegated the use of a laser device for hair removal to a medical assistant.

In September, the board issued a cease and desist order against the medical assistant, Christine Frey of Westport, because she was practicing medicine without a license. She was accused of burning a patient during a laser treatment at the Avery Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology in Westport.

The state received a complaint about the burns on July 10, 2013 and determined that Frey had provided the laser treatment, records show. Frey admitted that she had operated the laser hair removal device and practiced medicine without a license, a DPH consent order states.

The Avery Center doctors fined Tuesday were Robert Goldberg, Amanda Meulenberg, Adam Ofer, Elizabeth Sauter, Dennis Sivak and Marjorie Szeto.

Through their attorney, James F. Biondo, the doctors argued that the fines were “excessive” and “unwarranted.” Biondo wrote that the doctors had sent the medical assistant for training and certification in using the laser and that they had properly supervised her.

When DPH informed the Avery Center that the medical assistant needed a nursing degree to operate the laser, the center immediately stopped having her operate it and sent a registered nurse for training and certification, Biondo wrote.

The board also approved a cease and desist consent order in which Deborah Greco of Danbury agreed to stop practicing medicine and surgery without a license.

In March 2014, DPH launched an investigation after receiving a complaint that Greco provided medical and nutritional services out of her home office and referred to herself as an “M.D,” the consent order said. Investigators found that Greco was offering medical services in that, for compensation, she medically assessed clients and offered dietary advice and nutritional supplements related to the treatment of multiple sclerosis, the order said..

DPH also said it determined that she did refer to herself as an “M.D.” in a manner that let people to believe she was licensed to practice medicine in Connecticut when, in fact, she does not have a license.

In an unrelated case, the board modified the wording of a 2003 consent order involving the case of a physician’s assistant, formerly from Newington, who exposed his genitals to two girls in a store in 2001, DPH records show.

The order will now omit that Michael Ellwood, who currently lives in Springfield, Virginia, was arrested and charged with risk of injury to a minor in connection with the incident. The original consent order states that on Dec. 7, 2001, Ellwood was granted accelerated rehabilitation, a special form of probation, for two years and that he had to undergo sex offender training and evaluation.

Under the 2003 consent order, the board had placed Ellwood’s license under probation for two years. He successfully completed that probation in 2005, DPH records show.