Medical Board Acts to Yank Podiatrist’s License

The state Medical Board has moved to revoke the license of a Newport Beach podiatrist, accusing him of gross negligence, incompetence and excessive billing.

Senior board investigator Steven Rhoten said the accusations, filed by the state attorney general’s office with the Medical Board, allege that Dr. Craig Lowe, 42, has performed unnecessary or inappropriate surgeries and overbilled five patients since 1982.

Patients “go in there with some minor complaint and he does 50 million things” that are not necessary, said Rhoten, who investigated Lowe for about two years.

Lowe could not be reached for comment. A person who answered the telephone at Lowe’s Superior Avenue office said “we are not aware” of the allegations.

The allegations were filed with the Medical Board on Aug. 14 and Lowe was served this week, Rhoten said. Lowe is now entitled to a hearing before a state administrative judge.

The investigation began after the Medical Board received several complaints about the doctor from former patients, Rhoten said.

According to the allegations, a 72-year-old woman, identified only as Mary B., went to Lowe in 1988 complaining of a painful callus and bunion on her left foot.

Lowe examined her and “reached a diagnosis which included . . . significant surgical procedures” to both feet even though she reportedly had no symptoms in the right foot, the document reads. The result was that she had “severe pain in both her feet.”

Mary B. had 14 appointments with Lowe between November, 1988, and January, 1989, and was billed for each, the Medical Board alleges. But the sessions should be considered “part and parcel of the postoperative care within the podiatric community,” the Medical Board said.