A doctor the state suspended from practicing medicine for nearly a decade has again had his license pulled for not complying with requirements after his license was reinstated last year.
State regulators accused Dr. Frank Li of failing to properly monitor use of powerful opiates at Seattle Pain Centers, rescinding his license to practice as a physician in 2016. Li later agreed to pay $2.85 million to the state and federal governments for billing Medicaid and Medicare for urine tests patients allegedly did not need, according to a settlement agreement.
Last year, Li requested that his license be reinstated by the Washington Medical Commission. The commission modified a 2018 order and reinstated Li's license under several stipulations in June.
However, the commission again revoked Li's license in February due to his failure to complete a competency assessment and make a peer group presentation after his license was reinstated, as the commission required. The commission stated Li failed to appear at a noncompliance hearing in February.
Li did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The medical commission did not answer a question about why it reinstated Li's license, stating it was under the terms of the 2018 agreement and that Li cannot now practice medicine in Washington.
Li, who is board certified in anesthesiology and pain medicine, was the sole owner of the eight now-shuttered clinic locations of the Seattle Pain Centers, where he allegedly improperly oversaw opioid-prescribing practices. Concerns over the urine tests led state officials to examine the opioid-prescribing practices at Seattle Pain Centers and deaths of more than a dozen patients.
In a 2018 order, Li agreed to complete physician and prescribing courses and write a paper on prescribing medications, which he did in April 2024, according to commission records. Under the reinstatement, Li was subject to a 10-year probation period and could not practice in pain management or operate a pain management center.
He was also restricted from employing or overseeing any other medical providers. He could prescribe oral pain medication for acute pain management and provide up to a seven-day supply of such oral pain medication with no refills.
While Li did not admit to wrongdoing in 2018, that agreement lists 16 patients in which acute drug intoxication was a cause or contributor in their deaths. It says the patients' medical records "reveal a pattern of substandard medical care." One state health official described Li's patient care as "classic pill mill behavior."
Seattle Pain Centers' patients were given opiates inappropriately, with little supervision, in amounts that may have sent the powerful medications onto the street to be sold, officials said.
After state officials alleged Li committed billing fraud and possibly contributed to patient deaths, all his clinics were closed and thousands of patients were left scrambling for care.
Oregon Secretary of State records indicate Li became the manager of Immersive Therapies LLC last year, a corporation whose intended purpose, according to the records, is "creating supportive spaces and infrastructure for psychedelic therapies."
Willamette Week reported last year that the Oregon Health Authority granted Li permission to operate a psilocybin service center in November 2023. Immersive Therapies opened in January 2024.
Li defended his opioid prescriptions to Willamette Week and said many of his patients came with serious drug dependencies.
Li was also licensed in California in 1999, but his license was revoked in 2018 due to the Washington practice allegations.
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