Professional Misconduct (1/29/07) Issued To: Dr Edward Lewis Tobinick; License # G37710 Nature of Complaint: The Physician committed professional misconduct when he advertised from 2000 to 2002 about an off-label use of Etanercept that he had patented under the name DiskCure (Registered Trademark) as a new and innovative approach for back or neck pain without surgery.
A quick search also turned up very appropriate criticisms of major media outlets for grabbing this story and running with it (It was very widely repeated vs actually researched and reported) by many major news outlets at the time. There was no published studies until May 2002. Action Taken: The Board has Suspended the Physician's license to practice medicine for sixty days with the suspension STAYED and his license placed on Probation for one year to include the following: The Physician shall complete a course in prescribing practices. The Physician shall complete a course in Ethics. The Physician shall obtain a practice and billing monitor. The Physician shall not supervise physician assistants. State: California Issued By: State of California