KEY POINTS:
LOS ANGELES - The psychiatrist who prescribed all 11 of the drugs found in Anna Nicole Smith's hotel room after the tabloid star died is under investigation by the Medical Board of California, a spokeswoman for the state agency said today.
Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, who prescribed more than
1,800 pills and a bottle of the powerful sedative chloral hydrate for Smith in the five weeks before she died of a drug overdose, could lose her medical license if the board finds misconduct on her part.
Most of the drugs were prescribed to Smith's companion, Howard K. Stern, but medical examiners have said that they were intended for the 39-year-old Playboy Playmate turned billionaire's widow.
"I can only tell you that she (Eroshevich) is being investigated in connection with the Anna Nicole Smith matter," board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said.
Eroshevich, a Los Angeles-based psychiatrist, did not return a phone call from Reuters seeking comment.
Smith was found unresponsive in her Hollywood, Florida, hotel room on February 8 and pronounced dead within hours at a nearby hospital. Nine drugs were found in her system, including toxic levels of chloral hydrate.
The Broward County Medical Examiner's office on Thursday released a list of medications found in the room and prescribed by Eroshevich between Jan 2 and March 6. They include chloral hydrate, anti-anxiety drugs, muscle relaxants, anti-seizure drugs, diuretics and antibiotics.
Eight prescriptions, including the chloral hydrate, were prescribed to Stern. Two drugs, antibiotic Cipro and flu medicine Tamiflu, were prescribed by Eroshevich to someone named Alex Katz, who was not identified by the medical examiner's office.
One of the drugs found in the room, potassium chloride, was prescribed by Eroshevich to herself.
More than 600 pills were missing from the various bottles, though it wasn't clear if Smith took them all. The chloral hydrate was a liquid and about a third of the bottle's contents remained.
Cohen said the California medical board, which is responsible for licensing the state's physicians, assigns peace officers to investigate any accusation of misconduct by a doctor. The officers can file a formal charge of wrongdoing against the doctor with an administrative law judge, who would make a recommendation to the medical board.
Short of revoking a doctor's license, the board could also impose a lesser penalty, including suspension or probation.
"These investigations are not (typically) public record," Cohen said. "We are making an exception in this case because we want to assure the public that we are doing our job."
The medical board has previously said that it was investigating another physician in connection with Smith, Dr. Sandeep Kapoor.
- REUTERS