Ex-Doctor Accused of Practicing Medicine : Crime: The former Stanton physician, whose license was revoked, is arrested at Santa Ana home and charged with working in a Bakersfield clinic.

A former Stanton physician, who lost his medical license after he was convicted on drug charges, was arrested this week for practicing medicine without a license and falsely representing himself as a physician.

Lowell Kirk, 61, was arrested Thursday at his home in Santa Ana after Kern County investigators for the Medical Board of California discovered he was “playing doctor” at a medical office in Bakersfield, said Steve Rhoten, a senior board investigator who participated in the arrest.

Kirk was taken to Orange County Jail, where he was later cited and released, according to a jail spokeswoman. He could not be reached for comment.

The former physician had his medical license revoked in April after medical board investigators discovered that he wrote prescriptions for controlled substances for patients without determining their medical needs, Rhoten said.

In January, 1992, Kirk had also pleaded no contest in Orange County Superior Court to six misdemeanor counts of prescribing excessive drugs to three patients, Rhoten said.

“We thought we were done with him when we revoked (his license) but evidently not,” Rhoten said.

Rhoten said that if Kirk is found guilty of practicing without a license, he would probably be in violation of his current probation status in Orange County.

An anonymous complaint alerted investigators that Kirk was working at Ideal Urgent Care, a walk-in clinic in Bakersfield, said Norman Jorgensen, a medical board investigator in Kern County.

He said Kirk didn’t seem concerned about hiding his practice. “His name was prominently displayed on the outside of the clinic,” Jorgensen said.

Jorgensen said Kirk apparently worked full-time at the Bakersfield clinic from January or February of this year until the middle of last month, renting an apartment in the city. Board officials say he was the only full-time staff member working as a physician at the clinic, responsible for handling whatever medical cases came in off the streets.

He said there was no evidence that Kirk was dispensing controlled substances in Bakersfield. Both practicing without a license and giving false representation as a doctor are misdemeanors, he said.