Doctor fights to regain license lost to lax computer skills
NEW LONDON, N.H. — Holding manila folders filled with pages of her handwritten reports, Dr. Anna Konopka insists her system for keeping track of her patients’ medical conditions and various prescriptions works just fine.
But the New Hampshire Board of Medicine disagrees. It is challenging the 84-year-old New London physician’s record keeping, prescribing practices and medical decision making. Konopka surrendered her license last month — something she said she was forced to do — and is going to court on Friday in a bid to regain it.
According to the state, the allegations against Konopka are related to her treatment of a 7-year-old patient with asthma, including leaving dosing levels of one medication up to the parents and failing to treat the patient with daily inhaled steroids. Konopka said she never harmed the patient and the issue was that the boy’s mother disregarded her instructions.
But part of the problem also appears to be Konopka’s refusal to register with the state’s mandatory drug-monitoring program. The program, which the state signed onto in 2014, requires prescribers of opioids to register in a bid to help cut down on overdoses.