Boy’s county psychiatrist has other issues - Broward - MiamiHerald.com

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http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/23/2182409_boys-county-psychiatrist-has-other\

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In the two years since the death of Myers, the boy’s Broward County

psychiatrist, whose prescribing practices drew the ire of state regulators and

children’s advocates, has found himself in ever-deeper hot water.

On July 18 of last year, Sohail Punjwani was arrested by Miami Beach police

officers for driving under the influence and cocaine possession.

In August, Punjwani entered into a pretrial diversion program and will not be

prosecuted for the cocaine charges if he completes the program, Miami-Dade court

records show.

Punjwani has not been disciplined by the Department of Health, a spokeswoman

said.

Although Punjwani declined to comment directly, his lawyer, Bieber,

stated: “With respect to the DUI charge, that matter is presently pending in the

county court and we are vigorously defending that charge. It is significant to

note that the criminal charges have absolutely nothing to do with Dr. Punjwani’s

ability to practice medicine.’’

Punjwani provided The Miami Herald with a sworn statement from a consulting

doctor who concluded “within reasonable medical and psychiatric probability”

that ’s death was not attributable to Dr. Punjwani’s prescribing

practices.

“ had exhibited impulsive and aggressive behavior well before he was

prescribed any medication by Dr. Punjwani, and he had undergone a number of

significant and very emotional changes in the several weeks predating his

death,” concluded R. , a child psychiatrist and lecturer who taught

psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California at

San Diego.

According to a police report, Punjwani was driving a black Mercedes Benz

northbound on Alton Road when officers noticed he was swerving among traffic,

“nearly sideswiping vehicles and then quickly over-correcting this action and

nearly striking a curb.”

Officers pulled Punjwani over, and “noticed [he] had a white powder substance

around his nostrils Officers also observed that Punjwani “had bloodshot, watery

eyes, slurred speech and the smell of alcohol upon him.”

A search of the car turned up a small baggie with white powder in it. The powder

turned out to be cocaine.

Punjwani first came under scrutiny when The Miami Herald revealed he had

prescribed several psychiatric drugs — some of which were linked to an increased

risk of suicide among children — to 7-year-old , who hanged himself with

a detachable shower cord at his Margate foster home on April 16, 2009.

A report on the case by the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, obtained by the

Herald, concluded that “the medications that were prescribed for may

have contributed to his actions directly prior to and during his accidental

death.”

Punjwani, the team wrote, “has already been sanctioned for over-prescribing

medications to patients, and, for the age-inappropriate prescription of

medications to Myers.”

“The combination of the prescription of psychotropic medications to a 7-year-old

boy and the lack of proper supervision and/or failure to centralize

responsibility of treatment of Myers is a significant contributor to his

mental state at the time of his death.”

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