A Concord podiatrist whose medical license was suspended two years ago for unsanitary practices has once again been barred from treating clients, this time over new concerns about his mental state.
In an emergency order released Tuesday, the state Board of Podiatry said Dr. Edward Newcott has acted erratically in recent months, appearing confused at times, forgetting recent events and the names of close acquaintances, and at times requiring assistance from board members.
“The case involves imminent danger to life and/or health,” the order states.
Newcott has been running clinics in both Concord and Peterborough. His license was temporarily revoked in 2014 after an investigation revealed a series of workplace violations, including a lack of protective gear, antimicrobial soap and waste bags; improper storage and disposal techniques; and outdated medications and tools, including syringes. After a hearing that October, Newcott agreed to stop performing surgeries and treating patients in nursing homes, and promised to bring on a licensed podiatrist named Timothy Kemple as a supervisor.
But according to the board’s order, Kemple retired shortly after Newcott’s license was reinstated in December 2014. Newcott brought on another supervisor, Stanley Gorgol, but he allegedly never informed the board.
Then last summer, Newcott began calling board member James Dolan and purportedly asking the same questions about his remaining license restrictions. In December, Newcott called board Administrator Penny Taylor and claimed he had not attended the 2014 disciplinary hearing, even though he had.
“It was Ms. Taylor’s impression that (Newcott) seemed to be confused about events that had already taken place,” the order states.
Newcott later showed up at two board meetings, including one earlier this month, during which he reportedly repeated himself over and over and at one point incorrectly identified Gorgol as Dolan.
The suspension lasts up to four months. A hearing on it is scheduled for today at 4 p.m. in Concord. Specifically at issue is whether Newcott “committed professional misconduct by a physical or mental incapacity,” and whether he violated the conduct code by not notifying the board of the change in supervisors.
Calls to Newcott’s medical offices went straight to voice mail. A landline listing in Pembroke, where he lives, was no longer in service.
The board first began investigating Newcott in 2012 and tried repeatedly to get him to improve the conditions at the clinics. Newcott reported in early 2014 that he had not hired a consultant but had implemented prescribed changes. But two subsequent inspections showed similar unsanitary conditions.
(Jeremy Blackman can be reached at 369-3319, jblackman@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @JBlackmanCM.)