The Medical Board of California has recommended that two Pasadena doctors have their licenses revoked or suspended after determining the pair negligently prescribed painkillers and other dangerous drugs to patients and failed to maintain proper medical records.
Dr. Robert D. Siew and Dr. Elisa Cuellar Alvarado both practice internal medicine at Huntington Hospital — Siew since 1995 and Alvarado since 2008, according to the hospital’s website. The two also are affiliated with The Californian skilled nursing facility, which changed ownership in April and has since become the target of a state Department of Health and Human Services investigation surrounding complaints of negligence involving three patients.
“We are aware that a complaint was made to (Department of Health and Human Services), and we are fully cooperating with them,” said Brandon Bales, administrator of The Californian, in an email. He said Siew has served as medical director at The Californian for more than a decade and Alvarado joined the facility’s Quality Assurance Committee in April.
Bales, however, did not respond to a request for comment regarding the findings on both Siew and Alvarado from the Medical Board investigations.
The Medical Board issued its nine-page petition to revoke or suspend Alvarado’s medical license on April 4; a 19-page petition on Siew was issued on Jan. 25. A hearing for Siew has been scheduled before a panel of judges with the state Office of Administrative Hearings later this year, but no hearing has yet been scheduled for Alvarado, Medical Board spokesperson Alexandria Schembra said in an email.
Meanwhile, Siew and Alvarado continue to practice medicine. Neither responded to requests for comment.
In an email, Huntington Health spokesperson Dorey Huston said Siew and Alvarado are private, independent physicians in the Pasadena area who are on Huntington Hospital’s medical staff. She could not say whether any of the patients noted in the Medical Board…
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