Samaritan psychiatrist under review

A Samaritan Medical Center psychiatrist who divides his time between practices in Watertown and Georgia has had his records seized at his Georgia office by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Dr. John Savino, who has provided child and adolescent psychiatric services with Samaritan since October 2006, also has had his license to practice medicine in Georgia on probation since January 2008 for engaging "in a practice which fell below the minimal standards of acceptable and prevailing practice," according to information published on the Georgia Board of Medical Examiners' Web site.

His credentials at Samaritan are being reviewed in light of the DEA involvement, according to Krista A. Kittle, a hospital spokeswoman.

John S. Comer, associate special agent in charge of the DEA's Atlanta field division, said DEA agents, acting on a federal search warrant, removed medical and patient records Feb. 27 from the Folkston Diet Medical Center, a weight-control clinic that Dr. Savino operates in Folkston, Ga. Mr. Comer said he could not comment further on the matter because "it is being considered for prosecution."

The raid came slightly more than a year after a board of medical examiners in Georgia adopted an administrative law judge's findings that Dr. Savino's license should be placed on five years' probation for what, in essence, was poor record-keeping.

The board of examiners initiated action seeking to have the doctor's license revoked. The board claimed Dr. Savino was prescribing appetite suppressants between 1998 and 2005 to people with weight problems without routinely keeping track of their overall medical records, including documentation of the patients' vital signs and weight.

The board alleged that Dr. Savino prescribed to at least three patients a suppressant that can elevate blood pressure and heart rate, yet did not properly monitor the pressure or rate. The patients' blood pressure, as recorded in their records, remained the "exact" same month after month for at least a year, leading the board to conclude that it was never checked, but "simply copied" from a previous visit.

Dr. Savino "acknowledges that his medical records are poor," the law judge wrote in her report. "He accepts full responsibility for the medical records of his patients. He is not proud of the state of his medical records."

Rather than recommending the doctor's license be revoked, the administrative law judge recommended probation. Dr. Savino also was fined $1,500 and was ordered to complete continuing medical education in the treatment of obesity and record-keeping, as well as to keep more comprehensive patient records and logs of controlled substances prescribed.

Ms. Kittle said that Dr. Savino informed Samaritan's chief medical officer, Dr. Spencer P. Falcon, of his probationary status in Georgia after the doctor was recredentialed by the hospital in January 2008, but that "a decision was made at that level not to take any further action."

"We have not identified any quality issues with Dr. Savino since he arrived here in late 2006," she said.

Ms. Kittle said Dr. Savino spends about 75 percent of his time, or three weeks a month, practicing in Watertown, with the remainder of his time devoted to the Georgia practice.

She said, as with all physicians, a "rigorous" background check was done on Dr. Savino when he applied for privileges at Samaritan in October 2006, including a review of his credentials and possible criminal history or any disciplinary action faced and "everything was clear; nothing was there."

Dr. Savino received provisional credentials at Samaritan in January 2007 and, following a review done on all Samaritan doctors after their first year, received credentials in January 2008. Ms. Kittle said a review typically starts about two months before credentials are granted, and there was nothing found in any databases checked to indicate Dr. Savino faced possible disciplinary action in Georgia before the final decision was rendered in his case there in late January 2008. The doctor is due to have his Samaritan credentials reviewed in 2010.

However, Ms. Kittle said the DEA's investigation of Dr. Savino's practice in Georgia has caused the hospital to take a renewed look at his credentials.

"We have begun immediate internal discussions relative to this issue and his status here," she said.

Dr. Savino could not be reached for comment Thursday.

MORE LEGAL ISSUES

Dr. Savino and his wife, Victoria G., also are working through other legal issues in Watertown. In February, Robert E. and Lisa M. Carl, owners of A Doggie Doo in the town of Pamelia, filed a state Supreme Court lawsuit against the doctor alleging that he broke a contract to purchase their former home at 1164 State St.

The Carls claim Dr. Savino entered into an agreement in November 2007 to buy the six-bedroom Victorian home for $260,000. Dr. Savino requested that he be allowed to move into the home at that time, despite a closing on the sale not being scheduled until September 2008. A pre-occupancy agreement was signed that called for Dr. Savino to make no alteration or renovation to the residence without prior approval by the Carls.

While he was living in the Carl property, it is alleged that Dr. Savino entered into a second contract to purchase a home at 205 TenEyck St., which he ultimately took title to at a cost of $423,000, according to court documents.

The Carls claim he did both renovations and what they term in the suit as damage to their property without receiving approval. When they finally sold their home in January 2008, it was for $199,000, and the Carls claim the difference in the price they received and the price Dr. Savino allegedly promised to pay was reduced by $61,000 owing, in part, to the damage.

The suit also claims that Dr. Savino's purchase offer was contingent upon his selling property in Fernandina Beach, Fla., but the Carls claim in their suit that there is no record that he owns the Florida property or that it was offered for sale.

The Carls could not be reached for comment Thursday. Their attorney, Andrew N. Capone, Watertown, declined comment, citing the pending litigation.

Mrs. Savino was cited in September and October by a city dog control officer for having a dog "consistently barking" after neighbors complained that the Savinos' four dogs barked from early in the morning until late at night throughout the summer.

When a neighbor, Donald C. Klug, 518 Sherman St., called police again Nov. 24 to complain about the dogs, Mrs. Savino went to his residence to discuss the matter. Mr. Klug alleged he asked Mrs. Savino to leave, but she stayed inside his house, prompting city police to charge her with second-degree criminal trespass.

Disposition of the barking-dog citations and the trespass charge are pending in City Court, with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.