A physician from Trumbull was restored with probation earlier this year, but on Tuesday, the state’s Medical Examining Board decided to suspend her license again, this time on the grounds that she was driving while under the influence of alcohol.
State Department of Health records reveal that Dr. Karen Sondergaard of Trumbull has been practicing under a consent order that mandates her abstinence from drugs and alcohol for five years, as approved by the board in February.
Sondergaard “abused” alcohol beginning on March 18, which is around one month after her license was reinstated and she was placed on five years of restricted probation, according to a statement of charges released on July 8.
After being accused of being “under the influence of alcohol” on March 3, 2022, when she was “on duty and treating patients,” Sondergaard’s license to practice was initially suspended in March 2023, according to DPH papers.
The Department of Public Health stated when she was suspended that her “excessive use and/or abuse of alcohol may affect her practice as a physician.” Several mental health issues, including alcohol use disorder, were listed as her diagnoses in 2021, according to the records.
In February, the board decided to put Sondergaard on five years of probation. During that time, she will be required to undergo regular urine screenings, attend substance abuse support groups, and participate in mental health therapy.
According to the February deal, she can start practicing again, but she has to do it in a clinic with other doctors present, and the board has signed a consent order that states any missed urine screens would be treated as positive ones.
Additionally, the consent order required her therapist to report to the DPH on her ability to practice safely while abstaining from substances once every two years for the first two years of probation and more frequently thereafter.
The board has decided to suspend Sondergaard’s license until a complete hearing has been held about the new claims.
A Greenwich doctor was also fined $5,000 by the board for not treating and assessing patients correctly, which included not using the state’s prescription monitoring program and not providing enough clinical evidence to support pharmaceutical prescriptions.
The Department of Public Health (DPH) found that between September 2017 and July 2019, among other things, Dr. Adam Messenger examined and treated a patient below the level of care. According to the filings, Messenger was also negligent in not keeping proper records and failing to supervise the patient while medication was being administered.
The board decided to penalize Messenger and put his license on probation for a year. According to the paperwork, he has already fulfilled the probationary requirement of completing courses in prescribing practices. Additionally, he needs to have a doctor go over 25% of his patients’ records every month, and the DPH needs monthly reports from his boss.
The DPH reported that between December 2021 and January 2022, patients at the “Shot Shop” in Enfield received B-12 injections and topical anesthetic treatments from unlicensed staff. A physician assistant was fined $5,000 by the board for this violation.
Leah Kenney’s penalty also included a reprimand for her Enfield license.
