Judge dismisses 84-year-old computerless physician's plea to regain her license

 

A Merrimack County Superior Court judge dismissed a case brought forth by an 84-year-old New Hampshire physician who claimed the state pressured her into closing her solo practice, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.

Anna Konopka, MD, surrendered her medical license to the state earlier this month to settle allegations brought by the New Hampshire Board of Medicine.

While the details of the allegations are sealed, the state's claims stem from at least two separate instances, including Dr. Konopka's refusal to register with the state's mandatory opioid-monitoring program, which requires a computer. Dr. Konopka does not own a computer nor does she know how to use one.

"The problem now is that I am not doing certain things on computer," Dr. Konopka previously told ABC-36 News. "I have to learn that. It is time consuming. I have no time."

During a hearing earlier this month, she said she agreed to the NHBM's terms under duress, an act which has since caused her patients to suffer, as many of them are low-income and live in rural areas, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.

"The Court has admiration for Dr. Konopka's devotion to her patients. Under these circumstances of this case, however, Dr. Konopka has failed to demonstrate that the extraordinary remedy of an injunction allowing her to continue to practice medicine is appropriate. To hold otherwise would be to ignore the process established by the legislature to regulate the practice of medicine in this state," the judge wrote in his opinion of the case, New Hampshire Public Radio reports.

Dr. Konopka has filed a motion with the judge to reconsider, and filed affidavits from roughly 30 patients supporting her case, according to the report.

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