By Lisa Backus
The state Medical Examining Board voted to allow a physician whose license has been suspended in several states to practice telemedicine in Connecticut.
The board in November suspended the Connecticut license of Dr. Roozbeh Badii after learning that he had been disciplined in Maryland and Virginia.
The Connecticut suspension was to remain in place until the board could hold a hearing to determine his mental fitness to practice. Instead, Badii agreed to waive the hearing and accept the terms of a consent order which places his license on probation for two years, but allows him to provide telehealth services to patients.
The approval of the consent order by the board terminates the suspension, DPH officials said.
Badii has a mental health condition that is now being appropriately treated, according to state Department of Public Health (DPH) officials.
Badii will not be allowed to provide in-person visits with patients unless he gives the DPH 90 days’ notice and provides documentation that he has had a satisfactory clinical skills evaluation.
He also must submit to periodic chart reviews to determine if he is providing telehealth services in accordance with state standards and submit to oversight and reviews of his Connecticut patients, the document said.
Maryland health authorities suspended Badii’s medical license in April after a hearing on allegations he was “professionally, physically or mentally incompetent” to practice, DPH documents said.
Virginia health authorities suspended Badii’s license in their state a month later based on the Maryland discipline. Badii said during a November board meeting that he does limited medical consultations in Connecticut. He holds licenses in 10 states.
Badii’s Connecticut license was reprimanded in 2016 following an incident in Maryland when he signed prescription forms in advance in his work as the medical director of a rehabilitation and nursing center.
The board recently reprimanded the Connecticut licenses of two physicians who had been disciplined in other states.
Dr. Thomas Knuston’s license was reprimanded and placed on probation for six months and he is required to take 24 hours of continuing medical education courses, a consent order said.
Knutson was disciplined by the Arizona Medical Board in 2019 after it was determined that he had documented that he had personally evaluated a suicidal patient when in fact he had not, DPH documents said. Knutson has held a Connecticut medical license 2016, but currently works in Mississippi, DPH documents said.
The board also issued a reprimand to the Connecticut license of Dr. Matthew Rogalski, a gynecologist from Cumberland, R.I.
Rogalski was reprimanded by the Rhode Island Medical Board in 2020 after he reported on his license renewal that his gynecology privileges had been revoked at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, Mass., DPH documents said.
The hospital revoked Rogalski’s privileges after a patient suffered a complication during surgery that he failed to recognize, a consent order said. Rogalski has held a Connecticut medical license since 2012 but he does not practice here, the DPH said.
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