COURT WON'T STOP GRAY BOARD HEARING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 11, 1993                   TAG: 9303110094
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
COURT WON'T STOP GRAY BOARD HEARING
A Roanoke judge said Wednesday that he cannot prevent state medical officials from taking action against a psychiatrist who has tried to surrender his license to avoid sex charges.
Circuit Judge Roy Willett said he has no authority to stop the Virginia Board of Medicine from holding a hearing March 15 to consider allegations of professional misconduct by Dr. William G. Gray.
Gray pledged to surrender his medicine license in January in an agreement with Franklin County prosecutor Cliff Hapgood. The deal allowed him to avoid trial on charges that he used his psychiatry practice to sexually abuse five young men.
Gray has consistently denied the charges. Because he has given up his license, Gray contends, the Board of Medicine no longer has any authority over him - and it can't hold a hearing to revoke a license he no longer holds.
But state medical officials have refused to accept the surrender of Gray's license. They say they want to fully investigate all the charges before deciding whether to revoke it.
The difference between surrendering his license and having it revoked might sound like splitting hairs. But there is a difference: If Virginia revokes Gray's license, it's likely that other states would automatically forbid him from practicing medicine. If Gray is allowed to surrender his license in Virginia, he might still be able to practice medicine in other states.
Pat Doherty, one of Gray's attorneys, said Gray thought that he was closing the case when he agreed to give up his license. Now, the attorney said, the state board is forcing Gray to spend thousands of dollars to defend himself in the upcoming hearing: "The government is taking large sums of money from this man."
Lynn Fleming, an assistant attorney general, said Gray's agreement with Hapgood should not prevent the state board from acting in Gray's case. She said the charges that the board is investigating include matters that were not part of the criminal case, such as the allegation that Gray improperly dispensed prescription drugs.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB