| Date: | 08/18/2009 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Division of Administrative Law Appeals |
| Docket Number: | RM-08-268 |
The Board of Registration in Medicine has moved that Respondent James Kelly, M.D., be defaulted for failure to respond to an order to show cause. The motion is granted.
On April 16, 2008, the Board of Registration in Medicine mailed a Statement of Allegations to Dr. Kelly. In the Statement, the Board charged that Dr. Kelly:
engaged in conduct that undermines the public confidence in the integrity of the medical profession, failed to respond to inquiries from the Board regarding a complaint, and violated 243 CMR 2.07(13) because he failed to maintain medical records for seven years from the date of last patient encounter and failed to provide a copy of medical records upon a patient's request.
The Board sent the Statement of Allegations and an order referring the matter to the Division of Administrative Law Appeals to Dr. Kelly at 17 Bramblebush Park, Falmouth, Massachusetts 02540, which is the address Dr. Kelly provided the Board on his last Physician Renewal Application. No answer to the Statement of Allegations is contained in the record.
On April 23, 2008, the Division of Administrative Law Appeals sent the parties a notice of a pre-hearing conference scheduled for May 7, 2008. The notice was sent to Dr. Kelly at the 17 Bramblebush Park address in Falmouth. That notice was returned by the Post Office as "not deliverable as addressed; unable to forward."
The Division re-noticed the pre-hearing conference for June 27, 2008, this time sending the notice to Dr. Kelly at 610 Rosewood Drive, Kirksville, Missouri, an address that Dr. Kelly had provided to Board staff in November 2006. Again, the notice was returned undelivered.
When Dr. Kelly failed to appear for the June 27, 2008 pre-hearing conference, I sent him an order to show cause informing him that:
If you do not provide sufficient evidence of good cause for your failure to prosecute your appeal in a written document addressed to THIS AGENCY by July 23, 2008, your appeal will be dismissed and a default judgment will be entered against you. If a default judgment is entered against you, the Board may then impose discipline, up to an including loss of your license to practice medicine in Massachusetts, which may in turn impact your ability to practice medicine in other states.
I sent the order to show cause to Dr. Kelly at two addresses for him provided to me by the Board. One, 1108 East Paterson, Suite 4, Kirksville, Missouri 63501, is the address he lists with the Missouri Division of Professional Registration. The other, 12759 W. 88 Circle 147, Lenexa, Kansas 66215, is one Board counsel found through an Internet search.
Both letters were returned to the Division as undeliverable. Dr. Kelly did not file a response to the order to show cause.
Because Dr. Kelly failed to file an answer to the Statement of Allegations, failed to appear at the scheduled pre-hearing conference or respond to the order to show cause, and failed to provide any way to contact him, I order that he be defaulted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30A, §10(2). Based upon the default, I deem all the allegations contained in the Statement of Allegations to be true and recommend to the Board of Registration in Medicine that it impose appropriate sanctions against Dr. Kelly.
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW APPEALS,
____________________________________________
James P. Rooney
Administrative Magistrate
Dated: August 18, 2009
