I-Team: Doctor Will Never Practice Medicine In Mass. Again

BOSTON (CBS) - A psychiatrist with a lengthy history of disciplinary action will never be allowed to practice medicine in Massachusetts again, the WBZ-TV I-Team has learned.

Doctor Reinaldo de los Heros has submitted the resignation of his license, according to records provided by the Board of Registration in Medicine.

The move is irreversible and can be taken by physicians who are the subjects of complaints and potential disciplinary action, a Board spokesman said.

In April, an I-Team investigation revealed how a New Hampshire woman's death raised questions about the care she received from Dr. de los Heros.

Police found Kelly Deyo, a recovering heroin addict, dead inside her apartment in 2015.

She was surrounded by 19 empty pill bottles that had all been prescribed by de los Heros, who Deyo had started seeing a month earlier at his Maine office.

The I-Team discovered a paper trail of troubling medical care connected to de los Heros.

Records show he was repeatedly disciplined or warned about his prescribing habits. He even lost his medical license in Massachusetts for several years after a felony conviction for Medicaid fraud in 1997.

Deyo's mother, Elizabeth Marquis, filed a complaint with the Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine after her daughter's death.

However, despite the doctor's history, the Board placed the psychiatrist on six months of supervised probation.

"What will it take for that doctor to lose his license?!" an emotional Marquis told WBZ in April.

The decision was also criticized by experts, who said it points to a trend of state medical boards protecting doctors more than the public.

De los Heros initially ignored an I-Team inquiry, but later defended his practice, saying the Board had found him fit to continue providing care to patients. He also called Deyo's death a "tragic loss."

Later this fall, the Board in Maine will decide if the psychiatrist should remain on supervised probation.

But his days of ever providing medical care in Massachusetts are done. Records show de los Heros submitted his resignation a week after the I-Team report. The doctor had not possessed an active license since allowing it to lapse in 2009.

Meantime, Marquis is working with an attorney to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Ryan Kath can be reached at rkath@cbs.com. You can also follow him on Twitter or connect on Facebook.