Kevin Buckwalter v. State of Nevada Board

I. Background

Dr. Buckwalter has been a licensed physician in Nevada since 1997. In 2006, the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners (“the Board”) began to investigate citizen com- plaints that Dr. Buckwalter was overprescribing narcotic anal- gesics. The Board’s Investigative Committee ordered a peer review of the results of the investigation to determine whether Buckwalter’s conduct as a physician was consistent with pre- 6544 BUCKWALTER v. NEVADA BD OF MED. EXAMINERS vailing professional standards. Two peer reviewers concluded that in several instances, Buckwalter’s conduct fell below the minimum standard of care.

Edward Cousineau, the Board’s Executive Director, filed a formal administrative complaint with the Board. The com- plaint charged Buckwalter with three counts of wrongdoing and alleged that he was an imminent threat to the health and safety of his patients. On that basis, Cousineau asked the Board to summarily suspend Buckwalter’s authority to pre- scribe or administer controlled substances.

On November 12, 2008, the Board convened an emergency telephone meeting to review the complaint and summary sus- pension request. Buckwalter was not notified of the…