Update: Doctor Ban from Pain Management
On January 8, Dr. Rodolfo Giraldi, 66, voluntarily agreed to an order that requires him to surrender his controlled substances certificates which takes away his ability to write prescriptions for pain meds. The order states he will "remain inactive…until he elects to return to the practice of medicine at which time he may not practice pain management." Furthermore, when he does resume working as a doctor he must "limit his practice to internal/family medicine" and be "monitored by another physician for five years."
According to the order, Dr. Giraldi violated the Board's rules "regarding the treatment of pain" by failing to properly supervise his staffers.
Last May, CBS News aired an undercover investigation in which we sent four patients into a clinic set up by Dr. Giraldi. Our patients were prescribed hundreds of narcotic pills without having to present any medical records or being physically examined as required by state law.
All of the prescriptions we received were provided by a man named Manuel Hernandez (pictured above using an exam table as a desk) who presented himself as a doctor as our hidden cameras rolled. CBS News, however, discovered Hernandez had no medical license of any kind neither as doctor, physician assistant nor a nurse practitioner. Practicing medicine without a license is against federal law. (The day after we approached Hernandez and reached out to Dr. Giraldi for comment, the clinic closed its doors.)
In a written statement to CBS News today, Dr. Giraldi's lawyer Sherry Statman said the Texas Medical Board "made no finding of intentional misconduct on the part of Dr. Giraldi." Handing over his controlled substances certificates will safeguard "against anyone misusing his prescriptive authority in the future."
The Texas Medical Board Agreed Order