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Attorney General Files Complaint Against Washington Doctor

Last updated on Thursday, January 22, 2015

(WASHINGTON) - A Washington obstetrician is facing a complaint filed by the Indiana Attorney General before the Medical Licensing Board.

Attorney General Gregory Zoeller brought 15 complaints against Dr. Michael I. Baker. Dr. Baker is a practicing OB GYN in Washington with an office in the Heartland OB GYN clinic.

The Washington Herald reports, the complaint accuses Dr. Baker of various offenses including, improper sexual relations with a patient, not documenting prescriptions of a controlled substance, not documenting visits and violation of HIPPA (patient privacy) laws and others. The allegations are part of a Medical Licensing issue and Dr. Baker's attorney Kevin Betz of Betz and Blevins law firm, of Indianapolis, stressed they are not criminal. He also added the complaint is full of inaccuracies and fundamentally flawed.

No date has been set for a hearing.

According to the complaint, a woman, who had been Dr. Baker's patient for a decade claims that in November 2013 he began providing her private counseling at her home without billing her for services and without documenting her treatment.

Six months after those counseling sessions the woman made an office visit where Dr. Baker allegedly prescribed her anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication without documenting the visits, and that in December 2013 and March 2014 he wrote her prescriptions for Ambien.

The complaint claims that from November 2013 to May 2014 Dr. Baker and the same patient became involved in an inappropriate sexual relationship.

The attorney general also alleges that in the spring 2014 Dr. Baker began providing counseling session for the woman's brother-in-law in the brother-in-law's home and during that time failed to maintain records of prescriptions and counseling sessions that were held.

Authorities also claim Dr. Baker disclosed confidential patient information to the brother-in-law, including that he had previously treated a mutual friend's wife for emotional complications she experienced following pregnancy.

Five of the counts against Dr. Baker stem from the allegations of the inappropriate sexual conduct with the female patient. The remaining counts accuse him of failing to maintain proper records of the treatment of the woman and her brother-in-law and the prescriptions they received.

Other counts claim he was providing counseling without the proper training and for violating ethical standards by discussing another patient's treatment with the brother-in-law.

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