A doctor whose Santa Barbara office was closed after health officials began investigating the clinic for unsafe injection practices has had a state medical board require him to stop giving injections at another clinic he owns in Ashland, Ore.
Santa Barbara County Public Health officials shut down the office of Dr. Allen Thomashefsky at 2320 Bath St., No. 307, last month after an investigation revealed universal procedures to protect patients during injections were not being followed.
The department became aware of the possible exposures while investigating a case of hepatitis C that may have been acquired from an injection at the practice, and thousands of patients are being contacted individually and will be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV.
The doctor has not responded to Noozhawk’s requests for comment.
Santa Barbara County Health Department spokeswoman Susan Klein-Rothschild told Noozhawk on Thursday that shutting the clinic’s doors was a first for the county.
“I have confirmed we have never closed a medical office as a result of an inspection as we did Dr. Thomashefsky’s medical practice,” she said.
Reports that Thomashefsky was still working out of his Ashland, Ore., practice circulated earlier this week, but on Tuesday, an order was issued by the Oregon Medical Board requiring the physician to stop injections at his practice there.
An order was signed on Tuesday by Thomashefsky and OMB Director Dr. Joe Thaler.
The order states that the board received information about Thomashefsky that resulted in the board initiating an investigation.
“The results of the board’s investigation to date have raised concerns to the extent that the Board believes it necessary that [Thomashefsky] agree to certain terms until the investigation is completed,” the order states.
Those terms include not performing any injections, except immunizations, and must not retrieve or process any blood or tissue from a patient unless it is sent to a laboratory that is certified in Oregon.
After the investigation concludes, the board will decide whether to close the case or proceed to some form of disciplinary action.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.