Drug Problems
A Metro East surgeon whose problems with drugs caused him to leave patients waiting on the operating table avoided prison time Monday for ordering prescription drugs for recreational purposes.
Instead, Dr. John A. Petrovich, 46, of Webster Groves was placed on probation for five years, fined $5,000 and has to reimburse the federal government $5,000 - the value of the prescriptions he had filled fraudulently.
Petrovich last worked at Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City, St. Louis but is not currently practicing medicine.
Petrovich met an unidentified woman at a Caseyville hotel room on April 16, 2004 and called pharmacies to fill prescriptions for painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs. His actions landed in federal court as a health care fraud case when Medicaid reimbursed pharmacists for the drugs. Prosecutors said that Petrovich improperly prescribed drugs from December 2003 to June 2004.
Petrovich told U.S. District Judge William D. Stiehl that he continues to receive psychiatric counseling for depression and chemical dependency.
"I look forward to a clean and sober life," Petrovich said. "I sincerely regret my actions." He said he wished he could "do over" the choices he made to take drugs and supply them to someone else for illegal use.
Petrovich still has his medical license. The state is reviewing his case and was waiting to hear the results of the sentencing hearing on Monday, said Petrovich's attorney, Art Margulis of St. Louis.
"I don't have any plans to practice medicine," Petrovich said. He told Stiehl that he planned to "re-educate" and "go off in some direction. I'm not sure yet."
Stiehl admonished Petrovich for using drugs while working as a surgeon.
"You failed to appear when scheduled to perform an operation," Stiehl said. "You left patients hanging. That's not acceptable."
Petrovich's legal problems are not yet over. He is named in seven pending civil lawsuits in Madison County,St. Louis claming negligence or wrongful death. In another pending case, Jan Fuhler, a nurse who worked with Petrovich at Gateway Regional, filed a wrongful termination suit last year against the hospital.
Fuhler claims that she made superiors aware of alleged cocaine use by Petrovich and that the doctor was allowed to continue operating on patients. She said that administrators once sent workers to look for Petrovich, after he had been reported missing in areas where illegal drugs are known to be sold. The hospital said in court papers that Fuhler resigned.
Petrovich resigned on Oct. 10, 2004, without stating a reason, said a hospital spokesman. He is not a defendant in the Fuhler case. Petrovich began working at Gateway Regional in 2003 as a general and vascular surgeon. Prior to that, he had his own practice in Maryville.
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