Sacramento obstetrician may face more sanctions
A once-prominent Sacramento obstetrician with a criminal past could face new discipline from the state medical board, which has accused him of improperly handling controlled substances.
Dr. Roger D. Mathews declined to comment on the allegations, which involve failing to fully label prescription medications he dispensed to patients, and failing to keep controlled substances in a locked container.
Mathews came to the attention of federal and medical authorities in the late 1990s, when he was accused of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering in connection with an international securities scam.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud, and in 1999, when he was 66 years old, he was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $472,500 in restitution.
At the time of his criminal indictment in 1998, a fellow physician described Mathews as a highly respected doctor with a large, loyal practice.
But federal investigators said he had also been conspiring for years with two other people to lure investors into bogus deals.
Over a long career, Mathews had been a clinical associate professor at UC Davis School of Medicine, director of women's health services at Mercy General Hospital and an obstetrician with the Sutter Medical Group.
The Medical Board of California suspended Mathews' license to practice medicine while he was in prison, and later changed that suspension to a 10-year license probation.
He continued to practice medicine under terms of the medical board probation, which included taking an ethics class, filing quarterly reports, and later taking a course in proper handling of controlled substances.
In July 2008, during a medical board audit of Mathews' practice, an investigator found "controlled substances and dangerous drugs" in a metal locker that was unlocked, with its door wide open, according to the new accusation.
The investigator also found that descriptions of the shape, color and markings on certain pills were missing from bottle labels, it said.
The accusation, prepared by the state attorney general's office on behalf of the medical board, asks for revocation of Mathews' license or other, lesser penalties.