FILED STATE OF CALIFORNIA MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO L)l") 1.., !..]_ BY 'i\ < 1 c l-y..._,,.:l') ANALYST

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1 KATHLEEN A. KENEALY Acting Attorney General of California JUDITH T. ALVARADO Supervising Deputy Attorney General CHRISTINA L. SEIN Deputy Attorney General State Bar No California Department of Justice 300 So. Spring Street, Suite 1702 Los Angeles, CA Telephone: (213) Facsimile: (213) Attorneysfor Complainant FILED STATE OF CALIFORNIA MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA SACRAMENTO L)l") 1.., !..]_ BY 'i\ < 1 c l-y..._,,.:l') ANALYST BEFORE THE MEDICAL BOARD OF CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS STATE OF CALIFORNIA In the Matter ofthc Accusation Against: David Wade Benatti Atwood, M.D. a.k.a. David Wade Atwood, M.D. P.O. Box 4098 Riverside, CA Physician's and Surgeon's Certificate No. A , Respondent. Case No ACCUSATION 18 Complainant alleges: 19 PARTIES Kimberly Kirchmeyer (Complainant) brings this Accusation solely in her official 21 capacity as the Executive Director of the Medical Board of California, Department of Consumer 22 Affairs (Board) On or about June 24, 2015, the Medical Board issued Physician's and Surgeon's 24 Certificate Number A to David Wade Benatti Atwood, M.D. a.k.a. David Wade Atwood, 25 M.D. (Respondent). The Physician's and Surgeon's Certificate is in full force and effect and will 26 expire on April 30, 201 7, unless renewed. 27 Ill 28 Ill

2 JURISDICTION 2 3. This Accusation is brought before the Board, under the authority of the following 3 laws. All section references arc to the Business and Professions Code unless otherwise indicated Section 2227 of the Code provides that a licensee who is found guilty under the 5 Medical Practice Act may have his or her license revoked, suspended for a period not to exceed 6 one year, placed on probation and required to pay the costs of probation monitoring, or such other 7 action taken in relation to discipline as the Board deems proper Section 2234, subdivision (a), of the Code states: 9 "The board shall take action against any licensee who is charged with unprofessional 10 conduct. In addition to other provisions of this article, unprofessional conduct includes, but is not 11 limited to, the following: 12 "(a) Violating or attempting to violate, directly or indirectly, assisting in or abetting the 13 violation of, or conspiring to violate any provision of this chapter." Section 2236 of the Code states: 15 "(a) The conviction of any offense substantially related to the qualifications, functions, or 16 duties of a physician and surgeon constitutes unprofessional conduct within the meaning of this 17 chapter [Chapter 5, the Medical Practice Act]. The record of conviction shall be conclusive 18 evidence only of the fact that the conviction occurred. 19 "(b) The district attorney, city attorney, or other prosecuting agency shall notify the 20 Division of Medical Quality of the pendency of an action against a licensee charging a felony or 21 misdemeanor immediately upon obtaining information that the defendant is a licensee. The notice 22 shall identity the licensee and describe the crimes charged and the facts alleged. The prosecuting 23 agency shall also notify the clerk of the court in which the action is pending that the defendant is a 24 licensee, and the clerk shall record prominently in the file that the defendant holds a license as a 25 physician and surgeon. 26 "(c) The clerk of the court in which a licensee is convicted of a crime shall, within 48 hours 27 after the conviction, transmit a certified copy of the record of conviction to the board. The 28 division may inquire into the circumstances surrounding the commission of a crime in order to fix 2 (DAVID WADE BEN A TTl ATWOOD, M.D. A.K.A. DAVID WADE ATWOOD, M.D.)

3 1 the degree of discipline or to determine if the conviction is of an offense substantially related to the 2 qualifications, functions, or duties of a physician and surgeon. 3 "(d) A plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction after a plea of nolo contendere is deemed to 4 be a conviction within the meaning of this section and Section The record of conviction 5 shall be conclusive evidence of the fact that the conviction occurred." 6 7. Section 2239 of the Code states: 7 "(a) The use or prescribing for or administering to himself or herself, of any controlled 8 substance; or the use of any of the dangerous drugs specified in Section 4022, or of alcoholic 9 beverages, to the extent, or in such a manner as to be dangerous or injurious to the licensee, or to 10 any other person or to the public, or to the extent that such use impairs the ability of the licensee 11 to practice medicine safely or more than one misdemeanor or any felony involving the use, 12 consumption, or self-administration of any of the substances referred to in this section, or any 13 combination thereof, constitutes unprofessional conduct. The record of the conviction is 14 conclusive evidence of such unprofessional conduct. 15 "(b) A plea or verdict of guilty or a conviction following a plea of nolo contendere is 16 deemed to be a conviction within the meaning ofthis section. The Division of Medical Quality 17 may order discipline ofthe licensee in accordance with Section 2227 or the Division oflicensing 18 may order the denial of the license when the time for appeal has elapsed or the judgment of 19 conviction has been affirmed on appeal or when an order granting probation is made suspending 20 imposition of sentence, irrespective of a subsequent order under the provisions of Section of the Penal Code allowing such person to withdraw his or her plea of guilty and to enter a plea of 22 not guilty, or setting aside the verdict of guilty, or dismissing the accusation, complaint, 23 information, or indictment." California Code of Regulations, title 16, section 1360, states: 25 "For the purposes of denial, suspension or revocation of a license, certificate or permit 26 pursuant to Division 1.5 (commencing with Section 475) ofthe code, a crime or act shall be 27 considered to be substantially related to the qualifications, functions or duties of a person holding a 28 license, certificate or permit under the Medical Practice Act if to a substantial degree it evidences 3

4 present or potential unfitness of a person holding a license, certificate or permit to perform the 2 functions authorized by the license, certificate or permit in a manner consistent with the public 3 health, safety or welfare. Such crimes or acts shall include but not be limited to the following: 4 Violating or attempting to violate, directly or indirectly, or assisting in or abetting the violation of, 5 or conspiring to violate any provision ofthe Medical Practice Act." 6 FIRST CAUSE FOR DISCIPLINE (Conviction of a Crime Substantially Related to the Qualifications, Functions, or Duties of 7 Physician and Surgeon) 8 9. Respondent's license is subject to disciplinary action under sections 2236, subdivisions 9 (a) and (d), and 2239, subdivision (a), ofthe Code, in that he was convicted of a crime, to wit: 10 violation of Penal Code section 273.5, subdivision (a) [corporal injury on spouse or cohabitant], 11 substantially related to the qualifications, functions or duties of a physician and surgeon, as more 12 particularly alleged hereinafter: Respondent is a physician and surgeon licensed to practice in California On or about January 25, 2015, at approximately 7:34pm, San Diego Police 15 Department officers responded to a call of domestic violence. An officer spoke with V.A., who 16 related that Respondent, her former husband and current cohabitant, while intoxicated, struck their 17 daughter, C.A., in the face and pushed V.A. down the stairs. The officer observed redness and 18 bruising to the side of C. A.'s face and abrasions to both ofv.a. 's knees The officer spoke to Respondent at the scene and reported that he was extremely 20 intoxicated. Based on the officer's observations as well as the statement ofv.a., the officer 21 placed Respondent under arrest. The officer also obtained statements from C.A. and P.A., minor 22 daughters of Respondent and V.A. C.A. reported that Respondent hit her in the face and pushed 23 V.A. down the stairs. P.A. reported that she saw Respondent push V.A. down the stairs On or about March 30, 2015, in the case entitled The People of the State of California 25 v. David Wade Atwood, San Diego Superior Court, Case No. Ml95506DV, Respondent pled 26 guilty to Counts One and Seven, misdemeanors, for violation of Penal Code section 273.5, 27 subdivision (a) [corporal injury on spouse or cohabitant], admitting that he willfully and unlawfully 28 inflicted corporal injury to V.A., who was his former spouse. 4

5 1 14. Respondent was placed, among other things, on five years' probation, spent 30 days in 2 jail, paid fines and fees, and was ordered to complete 100 hours of volunteer work, a one-year 3 parenting course, a one-year domestic violence recovery program, and a six-month SCRAM 4 (Systems Alcohol and Location Monitoring) program During an interview with Board investigators, Respondent admitted that he had a 6 drinking problem. 7 SECOND CAUSE FOR DISCIPLINE 8 (Use of Alcohol in Manner Dangerous or Injurious to Himself or to Others) Respondent's license is further subject to disciplinary action under section 2239 of the 10 Code, in that he has used alcoholic beverages, to the extent, or in such a manner as to be 11 dangerous or injurious to himself, to any other person or to the public, as more particularly alleged 12 in paragraphs 10 through 15 above, which are hereby incorporated by reference and realleged as if 13 fully set forth herein. 14 THIRD CAUSE FOR DISCIPLINE 15 (General Unprofessional Conduct) Respondent is further subject to disciplinary action under sections 2234 and of the Code, in that he has engaged in conduct which breaches the rules or ethical code of the 18 medical profession, or conduct which is unbecoming a member in good standing of the medical 19 profession, and which demonstrates an unfitness to practice medicine, as more particularly alleged 20 in paragraphs 10 through 15 above, which arc hereby incorporated by reference and rcalleged as if 21 fully set forth herein. 22 FOURTH CAUSE FOR DISCIPLINE 23 (Violation of the State Medical Practice Act) Respondent is further subject to disciplinary action under sections 2234, subdivision 25 (a), of the Code, and California Code ofregulations, title 16, section 1360, in that he has violated 26 a provision or provisions of the Medical Practice Act, as more particularly alleged in paragraphs through 15, above, which are hereby incorporated by reference and realleged as if fully set forth 28 herein. 5 (DAVID WADE BENATTI ATWOOD, M.D. A.KA DAVID WADE ATWOOD, M.D.)

6 PRAYER 2 WHEREFORE, Complainant requests that a hearing be held on the matters herein alleged, 3 and that following the hearing, the Medical Board of California issue a decision: 4 l. Revoking or suspending Physician's and Surgeon's Certificate Number A , 5 issued to Respondent; 6 2. Revoking, suspending or denying approval of Respondent's authority to supervise 7 physician assistants, pursuant to section 3527 of the Code; 8 3. Ordering Respondent, if placed on probation, to pay the Board the costs of probation 9 monitoring; and Taking such other and further action as deemed necessary and proper DATED: January 24, Executive Director Medical Board of California Department of Consumer Affairs State of California Complainant 16 LA doc