Ketchikan doctor put on license probation

ANCHORAGE (AP) -- The Alaska State Medical Board has put a Ketchikan doctor's medical license on probation for five years.

Dr. Gena McKinley signed a memorandum of agreement with the board in which McKinley admitted to prescribing narcotics to other people, including her husband, so that she could use them herself.

In one case, she issued the prescription using the names of two doctors she works with in Ketchikan. The doctors were unaware that McKinley had signed their names, and neither approved the prescription. McKinley said she obtained the drugs because she suffers from chronic knee pain, the memorandum said.

The agreement with the medical board specifies that McKinley must continue with counseling and therapy and work in a manner that doesn't pose a danger to public safety. She must work with a primary physician who knows what controlled medications she is taking, because she's not allowed to self-medicate. While under probation, she also must submit to random urinalysis and other tests, the agreement said.

''Dr. McKinley deeply regrets this tragic event,'' said Kristen Pettersen, McKinley's attorney in Juneau. ''She has fully cooperated with the medical board to resolve this.''