Doc in Steroids Scandal May Lose License, By: Marcus Wohlsen

09.08.2006

The former medical director of the clinic involved in a sports doping scandal could lose his license for allegedly prescribing a stimulant to a track and field athlete without examining her.

The state medical board is seeking to revoke or suspend the license of psychiatrist Brian Halevie-Goldman, who was medical director for the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative that provided steroids to top athletes.

Halevie-Goldman was accused of gross negligence for allegedly providing the drug modafinil to the athlete at the request of BALCO founder Victor Conte, who served four months in federal prison for dealing steroids.

The doctor, who now specializes in childhood autism at two San Francisco Bay area clinics, did not immediately return calls Friday seeking comment.

The athlete in the case was identified by her initials, K.W., to protect her privacy. The medical board's accusation, filed in May, said K.W. tested positive for modafinil at an international track meet in August 2003 and accepted a two-year suspension for admitting to its use in 2004.

Kelli White, a BALCO client who tested positive for modafinil after winning gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter races at the world championships in Paris in August 2003, was stripped of those medals and suspended for two years after admitting in 2004 to using the banned stimulant.

The medical board said investigators examined medical charts kept by Halevie-Goldman that showed he diagnosed K.W. with narcolepsy in January 2003 without examining her, basing his analysis solely on a description of symptoms provided by Conte.

Modafinil is used to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder.

The medical board has scheduled a hearing on the allegations Nov. 13, said spokeswoman Candis Cohen.