Board suspends doctor’s license [The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.]

Oct. 15--A Stafford County doctor who faces 95 criminal charges has had her license suspended for three more years as part of an agreement reached with the state Board of Medicine.

Nibedita Mohanty, who practiced medicine in Stafford for 20 years, had her license initially suspended in April by the state board.

She was entitled to a hearing before the board in which she would have been allowed to address allegations of malpractice against her.

The board could have then done anything from reinstating her license without penalty to revoking it altogether.

Mohanty, who has three lengthy trials scheduled in Stafford Circuit Court, instead agreed not to contest the Board of Medicine's findings and accept the three-year suspension.

She admitted no wrongdoing in the agreement reached last month, and could seek to get her license back once the three years are up.

Meanwhile, Mohanty will have to battle in court for her freedom. The charges facing her include involuntary manslaughter and multiple counts of illegally distributing drugs, obtaining money by false pretenses and tax and insurance fraud.

The manslaughter charge stems from the June 1, 2011 death of King George resident Veronica Marie Wentzel, who overdosed on drugs, according to court records.

Wentzel was a patient of Mohanty's who was repeatedly prescribed pain medication despite warning signs that the medication was being abused, according to the records.

A trial on that charge is set for Jan. 21-28, 2014.

The other 94 charges have been split up over two more trials, one scheduled for this Nov. 18-27 and one from Feb. 24-March 3, 2014.

Mohanty, 54, is free on a $250,000 bond. She is represented by attorney Peter Greenspun.

She has previously denied any wrongdoing.

Keith Epps: 540/374-5404

[email protected]

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