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Although calls to his office are still answered as “Message Center for Dr. Steven Greenman,” more than a week has passed since a state board ordered the summary suspension of the license of the Brown Deer physician. The board found a pattern of over-prescribing opiates and other narcotics by Greenman, 63, who was previously disciplined in 1997 and 1990. He has been a practicing physician for more than 35 years.

The State of Wisconsin Medical Examining Board issued its decision on March 16. It was based on its review of the records of six of his patients and uncovered a five-year pattern of over-prescribing opiates and other narcotics to known drug addicts without examinations or therapeutic basis.

Greenman would see his patients once or twice a month, prescribing large numbers of such medicines as hydrocodone (“Vicodin”), buprenomorphine, fioricet, “increasingly large and toxic doses of acetaminophen,” along with what was described as “standard opioids,” the state board found.

With one patient, identified only as “P.K.”, Greenman prescribed pain medications from 2005 to 2010, although she tested positive for methadone, benzodiazepines, PCP and heroin and was getting “prescription pain medications from other physicians at the same time.” The patient was “self-escalating her doses of pain medications … shooting IV heroin” while living with her son, “a known heroin user,” from whom she was stealing methadone, the board’s report notes. (In turn, the son was stealing the medications Greenman had prescribed for her.)

P.K. got her meds despite “no exams, charts illegible and incomplete,” by Greenman. “The diagnosis does not justify the medication prescribed,” the order noted with the understatement typical of medical disciplinary reports.

Patient “C.F.” who used Greenman’s services from 2005 to 2009, was a drug thief who tested positive for methadone; Patient “T.S.” (2008-2010) would refill prescriptions early and demand replacements for stolen prescriptions (although no police report had been filed by the patient).

Another patient, “P.S.” received opiods “in face of contraindications to their use” due to a criminal background and history of substance abuse, the report goes on.

Patient “L.U.” received a prescription for 180 tabs of hydrocodone and another 3 days later. This unfortunate patient apparently needed all the more pills because of a series of misfortunes such as lost and stolen prescriptions and medications and had a history of early refills.

The board’s investigative division filed a “Petition for Summary Suspension” on March 3, 2011 with a hearing scheduled for March 16. The petition was granted that day and prohibits Greenman from practicing pending a final hearing and determination.

Not the first discipline

Greenman is a 1973 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago.

His Wisconsin State “Medicine and Surgery MD” License #18938 was suspended for 30 days in 1990 after a finding that he had mis-prescribed dilaudid, percodan, methadone and valium.

In 1997, Greenman was reprimanded for unprofessional conduct for improper prescriptions of benzodiazepines, codeine, hydrocodone, butabital and amitryptiline. The board found his conduct to be “below the minimum standards for the profession.”

Likewise, Greenman’s business and personal conduct fell below social norms. His office landlord, Diverse Interests, Inc. received a  judgment for $44,529.71 against Greenman for past-due rent on his office space at 3900 W. Brown Deer Rd. He owes $268.16 in delinquent personal property tax payments to the Village of Brown Deer for his office equipment and furnishings there. Aurora Healthcare Metro, Inc., has a judgment for $3,083.29 against the Internal Medicine specialist.

The Servite Manor Condominium Association has filed foreclosure of mortgage for his residence at 8059 W. Manor Circle, #F, which is assessed at $95,900 by the Village of Brown Deer.

Ding A Ling Discount Telephones, Inc. also has a claim for money against Greenman, which may explain why his telephone is connected to an answering service.

Greenman was also found guilty in 2005 as a party to a crime for engaging in prostitution with a then-23 year old male whose record included convictions for theft, forgery and prostitution.

The State of Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing licenses and regulates 132 credentials in 58 professional fields and updates its information on a daily basis. It is considered a primary source. Some 350,000 credentials can be accessed through this link. The board also has a link for disciplinary actions and orders. (Here is a link to the pdf document of the Order of Summary Suspension of Steven B. Greenman.)

Greenman remains listed as certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine website, which certifies one in four physicians in the United States.

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