State agency says pot doc's suspension should be reversed

NORWELL, Mass. — A Massachusetts doctor – suspended for approving medical marijuana cards for patients he never saw – received a boost of support from a little known state agency.

FOX25 Investigates has learned that the state Division of Administrative Law Appeals, which holds administrative hearings, issued a recommendation Friday that the state’s medical board reverse its suspension of Dr. John C. Nadolny.

The state medical board suspended Nadolny's license in May and alleged he broke the law by allowing nurse practitioners to use his ID to approve medical marijuana patient, but now a hearing officer says Nadolny was following the advice of the state Department of Public Health.

DALA Administrative Magistrate Kenneth Bresler on Friday recommended that Nadolny should not be suspended. Nadolny had requested the DALA hearing.

“By allowing nurse practitioners to use his online ID, the physician was following the Department of Public Health’s advice, and did not delegate to nurse practitioners his authority to issue marijuana certificates; they had independent authority to issue certifications,” Bresler wrote.

The DALA ruling is only recommendation. The final decision rests with the Board of Registration in Medicine.

Nadolny worked with Canna Care Docs, a group of clinics under investigation for approving medical marijuana use David Njuguna, a driver who prosecutors said had marijuana in his system when he hit and killed State Trooper Thomas Clardy in March as he sat stopped in his cruiser on the side of the Mass Pike.

The state has yet to release the results of the investigation into Trooper Clardy’s death.

In a statement to FOX25 Investigates, a BORIM spokesman said, “We received the decision and are reviewing it.”

Officials at DPH did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cox Media Group