State suspends East Greenwich doctor's license, finds he poses a public health risk

PROVIDENCE - A doctor, with offices in East Greenwich and Lincoln, has been suspended from practice after state investigators found expired medications at both locations that investigators said posed an immediate danger to the health and safety of patients.

Department of Health Director Nicole Alexander-Scott issued an emergency order last month suspending Dr. Boris O. Bergus from practicing medicine after determining that his continued practice represented a danger to public health and safety.

The suspension came after investigators made surprise visits to his practices - American Vein Centers - in Lincoln and East GreenwichNov. 17 and found medications readily on hand with past expiration dates, some dating back more than a decade. Other findings included hypodermic needles extending from a box of Botox in an open refrigerator, inspectors said.

The investigators determined that the widespread distribution of outdated, expired and mislabeled medications throughout the treatment area "supports the conclusion that these medications are in use, or easily could be intentionally or inadvertently" be used. Some expired medications lose potency and therefore could prove ineffective in treating life-threatening conditions, the order read.

Plus, outdated medications are at higher risk of contamination by bacteria, fungi or other organisms that could cause life-threatening infections if injected, the order said.

Alexander-Scott accuses Bergus of violating state law by exhibiting incompetence, negligence or engaging in willful misconduct.

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Bergus declined comment through staff who answered the phone at his East Greenwich practice.

Bergus graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1988 and has been licensed in Rhode Island since 1990.

According to the order, the inspectors made surprise visits to his practices after the state received a complaint warning "PLEASE DO NOT TELL HIM YOU ARE VISITING. HE WILL HIDE EVERYTHING IN HIS OFFICE!!!!" Though a previous inspection came up clean, the writer alleged that he carried expired solutions that he mixed with Botox.

The Nov. 17th inspection in Lincoln found that the "vast majority" of medications were expired and that needles were sticking from an open boxes of Botox, posing a danger of contamination, according to the order.

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The findings included the discovery of six unopened and two open vials of Ketamine Hydrochloride injection with 2018 expiration dates and other vials marked 2015 - representing an immediate danger to the public as Ketamine is a controlled substance, the order said. An EpiPen dated January 2012 was also on hand, along with sodium chloride injection from 2008, according to the state.

Likewise, multiple expired medications were also located in East Greenwich, along with open medications.

Department of Health records indicate that Bergus was placed on probation and monitored in 2013 after the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline found that he committed acts of unprofessional conduct by repeatedly misrepresenting his credentials.

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