El Cajon
After a seven-day hearing, an administrative law judge took under submission Friday a request to revoke the medical license of an El Cajon physician and surgeon.
Judge Marguerite Geftakys will make a recommendation and propose a penalty, if applicable, to the 19-member Board of Medical Quality Assurance in Sacramento, and a decision may be issued within two weeks.
The case involves Dr. John Robert Welch, 54, who has practiced in El Cajon for 25 years and had hospital privileges at three local hospitals until a Superior Court judge temporarily suspended his license on March 8.
The doctor is accused of selling drugs in plastic bags and paper sacks without appropriate labels and of prescribing drugs without a proper medical examination.
Three doctors testified on behalf of Welch: Robert Cranston, a neurosurgeon at Grossmont Medical Center; Karl Sturckow of Lakeside, and psychiatrist Philip Solomon of La Jolla.
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