COUNTYWIDE : Physician Faces Loss of His State License

The Medical Board of California is seeking to revoke the license of a Port Hueneme doctor and has placed two other Ventura County physicians on probation, a department spokeswoman said Tuesday.

James Hicks, who had been disciplined in 1984 for abusing alcohol, could lose his license if an administrative law judge finds that he failed to complete a rigorous state substance-abuse program, spokeswoman Janie Cordray said.

A hearing on the matter is expected to be set this summer. Meanwhile, Michael Small, an Oxnard doctor, was placed on five years probation after an administrative law judge ruled that he had unprofessionally administered drugs to himself, Cordray said.

Small was found to be using phendimetrazine tartrate, a diet medication, to get “high,” Cordray said. He was ordered to suspend his practice for six months, pay $1,000 and complete a drug-abuse program. Also, he is no longer allowed to prescribe medicine, Cordray said.

Port Hueneme doctor Dorothy Turner was also placed on probation after she was found to have prescribed a controlled substance to a patient without legitimate medical purpose, Cordray said. Also, an administrative law judge found that Turner had submitted false medical claims to Medi-Cal, Cordray said. Turner was sentenced to seven years probation. None of the doctors could be reached for comment Tuesday.