NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — An Eastern Virginia Medical School professor was reprimanded by the Virginia Board of Medicine after he was caught prescribing controlled substances to people who weren’t his patients.
Dr. Paul Marik was reprimanded by the Virginia Board of Medicine in March after an investigation revealed that he prescribed medication to five people outside of the doctor-patient relationship over the course of about three years.
10 On Your Side investigators attempted to reach Marik twice before this report was published. He did not return calls for comment.
Although she wasn’t his patient, Marik treated one woman for anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and pain from his office at EVMS. On about 18 occasions between November 2016 and February 2020, he prescribed her medications like phenobarbital, oxycodone, tramadol, alprazolam, and diazepam, state records show.
Marik also prescribed medication to four other people during that time period. Those people were not his patients, and the prescriptions were written outside of the limits of his medical license, according to state records.
Marik was issued a “university limited license” on July 1, 2009. That license limits his ability to practice to hospitals and outpatient clinics where students work and medical care is provided by a school or college, according to state records.
As a result of the reprimand, the Virginia Board of Medicine ordered Marik to complete 15 hours of continuing education on the proper prescription of controlled substances.
Marik is a professor at EVMS and serves as the school’s chair of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. According to his EVMS profile, Marik has written more than 400 peer-reviewed journal articles, 50 book chapters, and four critical care books. He also developed a new treatment for sepsis, according to EVMS Magazine.
EVMS confirmed that Marik is still a staff member. EVMS Assistant Vice President Vincent Rhodes declined to comment on the reprimand issued by the Virginia Board of Medicine.
“In general, any serious concern is investigated thoroughly, we cooperate fully with any Board of Medicine or credentialing body’s investigation, and we take appropriate administrative action,” Rhodes wrote in an email.
Marik is also on staff at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital as a member of EVMS, said Sentara spokesperson Dale Gauding.
“Sentara hospitals have medical staff policies to ensure patient safety. Sentara takes any information regarding its clinicians seriously and reviews all information consistent with those policies. Dr. Marik is on the medical staff at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital as a member of the EVMS faculty,” Gauding said.