NECC Defendant Lost Physician Licenses

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

One of the convicted defendants in the criminal case stemming from the 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak has been forced to forego his right to practice medicine in two states.
Records of the Massachusetts Board of Medicine show the agency acted in 2019 to bar Douglas A. Conigliaro, 60, from ever renewing his physician's license.
The action came even though Conigliaro's Massachusetts license had expired in 1993 and was never renewed.
The action in Massachusetts led to a complaint from the Florida Medical Board because Conigliaro failed to report the disciplinary action in Massachusetts to Florida. Rules in that state require licensed physicians to report adverse actions in other states within 30 days.
Though Conigliaro was represented by counsel in the Florida case he ultimately surendered his license and agreed to never again apply for licensure in the state as a physician.
The action by the two boards came after Conigliaro and his wife pleaded guilty to a single count of making multiple structured withdrawals under $10,000 from a bank account to avoid their actions being reported to the federal government.
He was fined $55,000 and given two years probation. He was also forced to forfeit about $120,000, the total of the structured withdrawals from a Massachusetts bank.
Conigliaro was president of Medical Sales Management, which acted as the sales agent for the New England Compounding Center, the company blamed for the deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak.
His wife Carla was the majority owner of NECC.
The Massachusetts medical board cited the fact that Conigliaro was convicted of a crime "which reaonably calls into question his ability to practice medicine."
The board also said Conigliaro had engaged in conduct that could "undermine public confidence in the medical profession."
"The overall nature of the respondent's deceit goes beyond mere greed in its scope," the board's order states.
The lawyer who represented Conigliaro before the board did not respond to a request for comment on the case or from Conigliaro himself.
A graduate of the Boston University Medical School, Conigliaro was licensed in Massachusetts on Nov. 18, 1987.
Florida records show Conigliaro was fined $10,000 in 2002 following an investigation of his handling of a patient who was paralyzed when he attempted to place a morphine pump in her spine. The licensing board cited him for improperly handling the procedure, not recording a proper history of the patient and having illegible records.
The board also placed a "letter of concern" in his licensing record.
He attempted to place the pump after a series of spinal injections failed to provide the 64-year-old woman with any lasting relief. She died two years after the surgery.
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