Fines & Sanctions

Med Board Stops Employee’s Use Of Fat-Melting Laser On Clients

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The state Medical Examining Board Tuesday ordered an employee of Laser55 of West Hartford to stop using an infrared laser device to heat fat tissue for potential weight loss, saying it constitutes the practice of medicine without a license. Though the board found that Pamela Borselle of Berlin is certified in using the device, it concluded she is not a doctor and she did not use the device under the direct supervision of a licensed physician. Borselle agreed to a cease and desist order to stop “the unlawful practice of medicine,’’ according to the order approved. At the same meeting, the board dropped charges against the owner of Laser55, Iyad “Edward” Shaham of West Hartford, because it found that only Borselle, and not Shaham, used the laser device on patients in 2012 and 2013. Laser55, at 836 Farmington Ave., advertises its services on its website as “Instant Weight Loss that Actually Works!” The medical board’s memorandum of decision states that the business uses the laser on localized areas of the body to warm fat cells under the skin by three to five degrees.

Fines & Sanctions

Med Board Opts Not To Discipline Greenwich Anesthesiologist

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The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday imposed no disciplinary action against a Greenwich Hospital anesthesiologist who in 2010 administered a nerve block on the wrong arm of a patient who was about to undergo a wrist arthroscopy. Though a board hearing panel had concluded that the state had proven misconduct on the part of Dr. Paul Sygall, the board voted to change the word “misconduct” to “error” and imposed no disciplinary action. State records show the hearing panel considered Sygall’s “stellar professional record” in which he had performed 10,000 procedures and his credible testimony at a hearing and concluded that he posed to “no threat to public health and safety.”

DPH records showed the error occurred because a nurse had changed equipment to the opposite side of the patient while Sygall was out of the room. Sygall administered the nerve block on the wrong side, noticed the error right away, stopped the procedure and kept the patient overnight for observation, DPH records show. In recent years, the board has fined or reprimanded other physicians for similar errors.  For example, in June 2011, the board approved a consent order fining Dr. David Heimbinder of Glastonbury $5,000 for administering a nerve block in the wrong shoulder of a patient in 2009.