CBS News reports that a doctor has been accused of violating the state’s medical licensure laws, a crime punishable by up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.
The doctor, John H. Harkins III, was charged Friday with one count of practicing without a medical license.
Harkin has been practicing medicine in New York since 1995, according to the state Office of the Attorney General.
He was not immediately available for comment.
Harkins was accused of performing unnecessary and unnecessary surgeries on patients, the office said.
The charges stem from an investigation by the office into an operation performed on a patient on March 8, 2017, according the state attorney general’s office.
“The alleged acts by Dr. HARKINS were unlawful, malicious, and unprofessional,” the office wrote in a statement.
“Dr. HACKINS is an attorney licensed by the New York State Bar.
He is a licensed physician and a licensed medical assistant in the state of New York.”
The doctor has since pleaded not guilty to the charges.HARKINS’ attorney declined to comment.
The office of New Hampshire Attorney General Peter J. Smith declined to discuss the case.
The investigation began after a patient called the hospital’s emergency department complaining of chest pain, Smith said.
That led to the hospital conducting a physical examination and discovering a CT scan that showed the patient had a blocked chest wall, Smith told reporters on Friday.
After that, a nurse called the emergency department and asked to see a doctor.
That nurse later informed the hospital that a nurse had a CT scanner that showed a blocked area, Smith confirmed.
Smith said Harkens was aware that his procedure was causing an infection.
But the doctor didn’t have a CT, which is what the nurse needed to examine the patient, Smith noted.
The nurse said the doctor then called the ER and told the nurse to call the hospital for a CT.
Halkins then came to the ER to give the patient a CT and performed the surgery, Smith added.
Smith confirmed the investigation into the case had been closed, but declined to say what charges Harkans had been charged with.
He declined to provide details.
Harkin was licensed to practice medicine in Vermont, according his LinkedIn profile.
He has practiced medicine at the University of Vermont, as well as in New Hampshire, and has worked at St. Michael’s Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire.
He did not immediately respond to a message left by the Associated Press on Friday night.
The AP’s Steve Bock and Associated Press reporters Matt Borges, Michael Fenton, Michael Biederman and Jim Sterman contributed to this report.