ST. LOUIS (AP) - A state board that polices Missouri physicians has issued an emergency suspension for a Jefferson City doctor.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/Um3o5Q ) reports that Dr. Randall E. Meyer is accused of unnecessarily placing stents in six patients' arteries. He can argue for reinstatement at a Feb. 4 administrative hearing.
Meyer filed documents in the case denying that he provided substandard care.
The Missouri Board of Registration for the Healing Arts doesn't know the last time it issued an emergency suspension and forced a doctor to stop seeing patients until a full hearing. Its records go back about 25 years.
Changes designed to expand the board's powers took effect in August 2011. The changes followed a Post-Dispatch investigation that exposed Missouri's failure to use the emergency suspension, even in extreme cases.