LOUISIANA PHYSICAL THERAPY
BOARI)
IN
THE MATTER
OF' ORDER
OT'
SUMMARY
SUSPf,NSION
ANGELA BREWER
COMPLAINT NUMBER: 2022-I-013
LICENSE
NO.
A89I5R
ORDER OF SUMMARY
SUSPENSION
Pursuant
to
La.
R.S. 49:977.3, the Louisiana Physical
Therapy Board
("LPTB"
or'oBoard")
summarily suspends License
number A8915R issued to
Angela
Brewer
('Ms.
Brewer"),
pending
an administrative
hearing scheduled for
May
15,2024,
at 9:00 a.m.
This
Order
of Summary Suspension is eflective as of
April 17,2024.
Upon execution of
this Order,
Ms. Brewer is not
authorized to engage in the
practice
of
physical
therapy and
must
immediately
cease and desist
fromthe
practice
ofphysical therapy, as defured by La. R.S.
37:2407.
Further,
Ms. Brewer
must cease and desist
fromrefernng to herselfas
a
licensed
Physical Therapist
Assistant.
I. TA,CTUAL
BASrS FOJR ORDER
To
protect public
healtlr,
safety, and welfare, emergency
action is required
due
to
the nature
of the allegations
against Ms. Brewer. On March 16,
2023, the Board
approved a
Consent
Agreement
and Order in the captioned matter
wherein the Physical Therapist
Assistant
license of
Ms. Brewer
was suspended
until she submitted
to
a Fitness
for Duty Evaluation
by a Board-
recognized
provider.
The Consent Agreement
and Order further
provided
that once
Ms.
Breweros
license was reinstated
after the suspension
period,
her license
would
be on
probation
for
a
minimum
of five
years.
Further, during the suspension
and
probationary period,
Ms. Brewer
was
required
to
participate
in
the Recovering Physical
Therapy Program
("RPTP").
The
factual basis
for the
Consent
Agreement
and Order was
as
follows:
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2
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Respondent
received her Physical Therapist
Assistant
license,
number
A89l5R,
on
or
about August 6,2014.
On or about April 4, 2022,
the
Board received
a confidential complaint
wherein
it
was
alleged
that
Ms. Brewer
was arrested on
or about
March
31,2022, on charges related to
alcohol
abuse and drug
abuse
in
Shreveport, Louisiana. Arrest
records indicate Ms. Brewer
was charged with six misdemeanors
and one
felony.
In association
with the complaint, on April
7,
2022,
a subpoena was issued
to the Caddo
Parish
Sheniff s Office to
obtain documents
related
to Ms. Breweros arrest.
On April
25,2022, the Caddo Parish Sherriffs
Office
provided
the requested
records.
In
association
with the
complaint, on April 25, 2022,
a subpoena was issued
to the
Shreveport Police
Department to obtain documents related to Ms.
Brewer's
arrest.
On May
20,2022,
the Slreveport
Police
Department
provided
the requested records.
By correspondence
dated Jvne 2,2022, the
Board noticed Ms, Brewer
of the allegations
against her,
and
requested
that she
provide
a written statement
giving
her response to
the
allegations within thirty
(30)
days.
By
correspondence received
by the Board
on July 29,2022, Ms. Brewer
provided
a written
statement in response
to the allegations
set
forth in the
notice
letter.
In
association with
the complaint, on August 19, 2022,
a subpoena was issued
to the
Shreveport
Police Department
to
obtain
video footage
related to Ms. Breweros
arrest.
On September 21,2022,
the Shreveport Police
Department
provided
the requested
video
footage.
By
correspondence
dated
Septernber 9,2022,
the Board
again noticed Ms. Brewer
of the
allegations
against her,
and
that
the
investigative
committee
was scheduling
an
informal
conference, or
Bertucci hearing, in the captioned matter for
September 28,2022,
to
give
her an
opportunity
to
show
that she met all lawful
requirements for the
retention of her
license.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9
10.
11.
12. Ms. Brewer
attended the informal
conference with
the investigative committee
on
September 28,2022.
t3 During
the informal
conference, Ms. Brewer
confirmed
the
following
facts related
to
her
arrest:
a.
As Ms.
Brewer
was
leaving home
to
go
to
dinner,
she
found a fanny
pack
containing
marijuana in
her driveway. She
advised that she assumed
it was her
daughter's
boyfriend's fanny
pack
and
put
it in her
glove
box. She stopped
at her boyfriend's
home and left the fanny
pack
there
because she didn't want
it in her vehicle,
and
went to dinner.
BRIMAT{l
6303\552 I 3\47287341141
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b. Ms. Brewer had a few margaritas at dinner and later returned
to her boyfriend's
home, after which they
got
into an argument. She reported that her
boyfriend
put
the fanny
pack
back
in her
car
because he
didn't
want it
at
his
house.
c. Ms. Brewer left her boyfriend's house
and
got pulled
over for running a red light.
She didn't
recall
much ofthe
interactions
withthe
police
officers,
but
she admitted
to being removed fromthe vehicle bythe female
police
officer,
only
after friling to
comply with officer instructions. Ms. Brewer
did
not
recall
resisting or
assaulting
an officer
during
the incident,
and advised that if she did, it was
a
poor
choice.
d.
Ms. Brewer
advised that she was not
proud
ofthe
situation
and that
o'alcohol
makes
you
crazy".
e. When
advised that her statement did not match
the explanation of the incident in
the
police
report, especially regarding
where the marijuana was
placed,
Ms. Brewer
advised that
her boyfriend
must have
put
the bag in her
back seat, and she
just
didn't
recall or forgot
that
fact.
Ms.
Brewer
thought there was only about 13
grams
in
the
bag, however,
the
police
report indicated
the bag contained 44
grams,
which
she
thought was
a
lot.
f. Ms. Brewer only
admitted to having the open beer
container in her vehicle
after
prompting
and said that she was
drinking beer at her boyfriend's house.
g.
Ms. Brewer
advised that she had a
court date on Oct 6ft,
and
she should
be entered
into
the court's diversion
program.
14. The
committee
confirmed the
following facts
from a review
ofthe evidence:
a.
Ms. Brewer was
arrested on March 31,2022, for running
tltough a red light
and
was
pulled
over. Upon approaching Ms. Brewer,
the officer detected
a
strong
odor
of
alcohol.
b.
The
arresting foundanopenbeer,
approximately 44
grams
ofmarijuana, andaglass
pipe
in the vehicle. The vehicle's
registration was
out of date as well.
c. Ms. Brewer refused
to
participate
in
any field sobriety,
blood or breath alcohol
tests,
therefore
her
BAC levels
were not documented
in the
police
report;
however,
the
report
does
indicate
that she was
transported to Selective for further
testing. While
being transported, Ms.
Brewer became combative and verbally
abusive.
d.
Ms.
Brewer was charged
with 6 misdemeanors
and
1
felony: l. M Operating
a
vehicle
while
intoxicated
2. M Open
container law 3. M Failure
to
register
vehicle
4. F Poss.
Sch 1
CDS
5. M Resisting
Officer
6.
M Prohibited
acts / Drug
Paraphernalia
7.
Red lights.
By
correspondence dated
October
13,2022,the
Board issued
Ms. Brewer a letter directing
her
to submit to
an evaluation by a board
recognized
provider
to
address
the issues found
during an
intake
interview
with the RPTP administrator,
Ms.
Kathie
Pohlman. A deadline
15.
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16.
17.
18.
t9.
of
thirty
days
was
given
to
complete the evaluation.
By
correspondence dated November 23,
2022,
the Board
issued Ms.
Brewer a second
notice
letter, requesting
her
to submit to an
evaluation
by a board
recognized
provider
to
address the issues found during
an
intake
interview with the RPTP administratoro Ms.
Kathie Pohlman. A deadline
to
schedule the evaluation was set for December 31,2022.
By email correspondence dated January 6, 2023, Ms. Brewer contacted
Ms.
Martin
and
informed her that she
scheduled an evaluation
at Palmetto Addiction
Recovery Center in
Rayville,
LA
for March
7,2023.
By correspondence dated January 12,2022, the Board issued
Ms.
Brewer
a notice
letter
requesting her
to submit to a drug/alcohol
screen
at a testing
facility
selected by the board.
20
,,,)
On
January
13, 2023,
Ms. Brewer submitted to the drug/alcohol screen as requested.
However,
the
lab
was unable to obtain the blood draw for the Peth
test, and
the hair
sample
collected
for
the Hair Stat 12 test was inadequate.
Ms. Brewer was notified of
the
test rejection
and was instructed to resubmit for
the
drug/alcohol screens again. The
PEth
test and Hair Stat 12
panel
test was collected
on
January 20,2023.
21. On January 26,2023, the board was notified of a
positive
Peth test result for Ms.
Brewer.
On February 2,2023, Ms. Brewer contacted
Charlotte Martin and
informed
her that she
was
going
in for
an assessment with the Willis
Knighton
employee assistance recovery
program
on
the
following
day, and she was
going
to be in inpatient for 4-6 days,
and
would
then
participate
in
group
therapy
for
30 days,
for 4
hours
after
work.
23
By
correspondence
dated
February 17,2023, James Raines,
board legal counsel sent
Ms.
Brewer a letter via
email
requesting her to complete
a medical
release
form for the Board
to obtain the medical records related
to her treatment at Willis Knighton within
seven
(7)
days.
On March 2, 2023, and March 6,
2023,
Stephanie Boudreaux
emailed Ms. Brewer
regarding
her failure
to
respond
to
the February 17,2023,
email sent to her by James
Raines.
On March 2,2023, Ms. Brewer
emailed Charlotte Martin, informing her that
she
was
going
to have to re-schedule her
evaluation due to
financial
reasons. She stated she
would
provide
an update as soon as
possible
on the new date for the
evaluation.
Paragraph 14
ofthe Consent
Agreement
and Order
provides:
Respondent
acknowledges that her failure to comply with
any
term of
this Consent
Order
and
Agreement is
a
basis for the immediate
srmrmary suspension of her
license
and
for
further disciplinary action by the Board.
24
25
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After
approval of the Consent
Agreement
and Order, Ms. Brewer executed
a
document
entitled
Recovering Physical Therapy
Program
Terms and
Conditions
of Participation
("Participation
Agreement")
on
July 20, 2023. The Participation
Agreement
provides
as follows:
9.
Non-Compliance
Participant
acknowledges and agrees that the
practice
of
physical
therapy
by an
impaired
professional poses
a serious threat to
public
health,
safety, and welfaxe.
Therefore,
participant
specifically
agrees that non-compliance
or
complications
relative to
participant's
impairment
during the monitoring
period,
as herein
specified,
warrant
immediate
action to enable the LPTB
to
protect
the
public:
e. Receipt by the LPTB of
any
positive,
unexplained substance
abuse test or
screen.
f. Receipt
by
the
LPTB of
apparently
reliable information
of
participant's
relapse related
to
impairment.
Upon Participant's notice from
the
LPTB
of any noncompliance or
complications
relative
to
participant's
impairment
during the monitoring
period, participant
voluntarily
agrees to immediately cease
practicing
any form of
physical
therapy
until
participant
has undergone
a
fitness for
duty evaluation by
an
independent
evaluator, recognized
by
the LPTB-RPTP,
and
participant
[h]as
received
written
notification
from the LPTB that
panicipant
may resume the
practice
of
physical
therapy. Participant
understands ifrequired to cease
the
practice
of
physical
therapy
secondary
to
non-compliance,
the
employer(s)
of
record
will be notified and may
be
provided
a copy ofthe Notice
ofNon-compliance.
In
the event
that Participant
receives
notice
of their non-compliance or
complications relative
to
participant's
impairment
during the monitoring
period
and
participant
does not immediately case
practicing
physical
therapy
or
resumes
practicing physical
therapy
prior
to
receiving
written notification from
LPTB,
Participant
acknowledges
that such conduct will
provide
the
LPTB
just
cause to
take action
pursuant
to
$361
of the Rules to
protect
the healt[ safety and welfare
of the
public
as deemed
necessaf,y
by the LPTB, including
but not limited
to the
summary
suspension of
participant's physical
therapy license
as authorized by
$37e.A.
23. Relapse
and
Relapse
Prevention
Participant
agrees to immediately noti$
the RPTP Manager,
and the Louisiana
Physical
Therapy Board Executive
Director or Compliance
Officer of
any
relapse
related
to
impairment, including
but not limited, to
any authorized
use of mood-
altering drugs.
Upon entry into the RPTP
and
prior
to
exit, Participant must
submit
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a Relapse
Prevention
Plan to be
approved and
signed by Participant,
Sponsor
and
Aftercare
provider.
On April 1,5,
2024, Kathie Pohlman
('Ms.
Pohlman'),
administrator
of
the
RPTP,
contacted the
Board
disciplinary committee
and advised
that Ms. Brewer
had a
positive
screen for
EtS
and a follow-up
positive
PEth
test, indicating
alcohol
consumption.
Mr. Brewer
subsequently
admitted to
consuming
alcohol.
Ms. Pohlman
also sent a
letter
to Ms. Brewer
dated April 15,
2024,
regarding
her
non-
compliance,
and noted
the following instances
of non-compliance:
1.
On April I,2024,
Ms. Brewer
submitted a random
drug screen
that resulted
as
POSITIVE
on April
10, 2024, with
an Ethyl
Sulfate
LCIMSA4S
of
129
ng/ml.
In
addition, the
urine drug screen
resulted
as DILUTE,
with
a creatinine level
of 18.8
mg/dl
and a specific
gravity
of 1.0029.
2.
On April 10,2024,the
RPTP
Manager
contacted
Ms.
Brewer via telephone
and
Ms. Brewer
stated
she had taken
ZzzQuil
to sleep
after having
lost her
prescripion
for Trazodone.
She then requested
a review
of the test by the
Medical Review
Officer
(MRO).
3.
On April
10,2024,
Ms. Brewer
was contacted
by Dr.
Barry Lubin,
MRO,
who
determined
the
results were DILUTE
and POSITIVE
,
and that
the results
could
be
explained
by the ingestion
of
NyQuil if follow
up PEth is negative.
4. On
April 11,2024,
Ms.
Brewer
submitted to
a PEth
blood screen
that
resulted
on April
14,2024,
as POSITIVE
for Alcohol
at 46.0 nglnlL.
This
screen
tests
phoshatidylethonols
in
blood
which
are only
produced
with
significant alcohol
consumption.
Based
on the foregoing,
it is
alleged
that
Ms. Brewer
may have
violated
the March
16,
2023
Consent Agreement
and Order, her Participation
Agreement,
and the following
rules and
regulations
applicable
to
the
LBPT:
La. R.S.
3722420 DISCIPLINARY
ACTIONS
A.
After due notice
and
hearing,
the
board may refuse
to license
any
applicant,
or
may
refuse
to renew
the license
of any
person,
or may
restrict,
suspend,
or
revoke
any license
upon
proofthat
the
person
has:
*****
(5)
Been
habitually
intemperate
or
abused
controlled dangerous
substances
as
defined
by federal
or Louisiana
law;
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LAC 46:LIV
S353
RECOVERING PHYSICAL THERAPY
PROGRAM
(RPTP)
***:l€*
H.
When a licensee ceases to be in compliance with
his
RPTP
agreement, he shall
be referred back to the board for regular
disciplinary
proceedings
or such
action
as
authorized
in
the RPTP agreement.
LAC
46:LIV
S379
EMERGENCY
ACTION
A. In
accordance with La. R.S. 49:961, ifthe
board finds that
public
health,
safety,
and welfare require emergency action
and
incorporates
a
finding to that
effect
in its
order, a sunmary suspension of a license
may be ordered
pending
proceedings
for
suspension, revocation or other
action. Such
proceedings
shall
be
promptly
instituted
and
determined.
II. DECISION AND
ORDER
After
presentation
of the
evidence at
the
hearing on April 17,2024,
upon motioru
LPTB
went
into
executive session
to deliberate its ruling in this matter.
After conducting deliberations,
the Board voted
to come
gut
of
executive session
and
pursuant
to motion, the LPTB
affirmed, by
a unanimous vote of those
present
at the hearing,
the following Order:
To
maintain
public
health, safety, and
welfare, emergency
action is required
due
to the
allegations set forth above,
specifically that Ms. Brewer is in violation
ofher
Consent
Agreement
and Order and Participation
Agreement.
Accordingly, LPTB License Number 4.8915R
issued to
Angela Brewer is
SUSPENDED,
effective
immediately,
pending proceedings
for suspension,
revocation
of licensure
or othet action(s) as the Board
deems
fit.
Proceedings
before the Louisiana Physical Therapy
Board shall be
promptly
instituted and
determined. Accordingly,
an
administrative
hearing before the Louisiana Physical
Therapy
Board
is
scheduled for May
15, at 9:00
a.m.,
at the Louisiana
Physical Therapy
Board, located
at2ll0
W. Pinhook
Rd., Suite 202, Lafayette,
Louisiana,
70508.
The hearing
panel
will
consist
of
current
Board Members
or ad hoc members
appointed
for
the
purpose
of ths hearing.
The
hearing
will be
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conducted in
accordance
with
the
Administrative Procedure Act, the Louisiana Physical Therapy
Practice
Act,
and the
rules
promulgated
by
the Board.
Ms. Brewer will be
given
a full opportunity to appear and be heard,
with
or without counsel,
and
is entitled to hear
a statement
of what accusations have
been
made against her, to
present
evidence, to cross-examine
witnesses,
and to have witnesses subpoenaed. Ms.
Brewer may
request
that subpoenas be issued by the Louisiana
Physical Therapy
Board and must send a request
to
the
Louisiana Physical Therapy Board
offrce at
least
5 days
prior
to the
hearing, listing
the names and
addresses
of
the individuals to be subpoenaed, along with a
brief
summary as
to
what each
individual
will testiff. The testimony will be under oath and a court reporter will record
the
proceedings
at the hearing,
and any
party
wishing to obtain
a transcript of
the hearing
may do so
at their expense.
+tt
Date:
I tr-
Oday
Jr.,
Louisiana ical Therapy
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