Physician Has License Revoked After Hepatitis B Outbreak

A physician based in Toms River and Whiting had his license revoked yesterday following accusations of a hepatitis B outbreak among patients he treated, said the state attorney general’s office.

The State Board of Medical Examiners at its monthly meeting revoked the license of Dr. Parvez Dara, for a minimum four-year period, retroactive to the start of his suspension from practice.

Dara had previously been suspended from practice in April 2009, according to the state attorney general’s office, after “an outbreak of hepatitis B among patients treated at his Toms River office linked to unsanitary conditions there.”

After testing, 29 of his patients had confirmed cases of hepatitis B infection.

Now, 2,800 letters have gone out to patients of Dara urging them to be tested. The attorney general's office said the decision refers to conditions at the Toms River office.

Dara’s offices include one in The Commons, on Route 37 West in Toms River, and on 70 Lacey Road in the Whiting section of Manchester.

 “The Board of Medical Examiners’ actions in this matter were focused on protecting the public from a health threat that had, in fact, strickened patients,” Attorney General Paula T. Dow said in a prepared statement. “License revocation is appropriate, given the facts in this case.”

The Office of Administrative Law’s hearing of the case found multiple unsanitary conditions, said Dow.

Among the findings were that Dara’s office was “unsanitary and rife with breaches in standard infection control practices,” including:

• inappropriate reuse of a saline bag on multiple patients throughout treatment days;
• failure to clean up splashes of blood;
• syringes removed from sterile wrapping and then left open for use;
• handling of medication vials and common writing instruments with blood contaminated gloves.    

It was “gross negligence,” said Thomas R. Calcagni, Director of the State Division of Consumer Affairs, in a prepared statement.

“Our licensing Boards will act to protect the public when licensees do not follow professional standards of conduct or violate our regulations governing practice,” Calcagni said. “The exposure of patients to hepatitis B clearly demonstrated gross negligence on the part of Dr. Dara.”

The decision orders:

• Dara’s license revoked for at least four years.
• Dara must complete re-education in infection control and ethics training prior to applying for re-licensure.
• A $30,000 civil penalty Dara must pay.
• Dara must reimburse the board for its investigative and legal costs, which are now being calculated.

Dara could apply for re-licensure as early as April 2013, as long as he meets re-education requirements the board sets.