A Penn Township veterinarian's license to practice was temporarily suspended after a series of alleged instances of misconduct that a state attorney said makes him “an immediate and clear danger to the public health or safety to the practice of veterinary medicine.”

The Department of State on June 9 moved to temporarily suspend the veterinary license of Denis Lee Daman, who runs Suburban Animal Clinic in Penn Township, after the Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs said Daman committed a litany of wrongdoings, rendering him “unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety.”

In a filing before the State Board of Veterinary Medicine, the prosecuting attorney alleged, among other acts, Daman continued prescribing controlled substances despite losing the ability to do so; performed surgeries without proper pain management and while being unable to perform surgeries alone; and improperly managed medical cases.

A message left with a phone number associated with Daman was not returned Wednesday. The Penn Township clinic's phone rang and was not answered.

Joseph Kecskemethy, an attorney who represented Daman in a 2020 criminal case and to whom a copy of the state board's filings were sent, declined to comment.

The filing states Daman surrendered his Drug Enforcement Administration registration, which permitted him to prescribe controlled substances, in January 2020 after admitting to law enforcement he prescribed himself hydrocodone-acetaminophen — better known by the brand name Vicodin — for personal use. According to court documents, he was charged in June 2020 with one count of possession of controlled substances, for which he was accepted into the county's accelerated rehabilitative disposition program in October 2020.An affidavit of probable cause, filed in June 2020 by the state Office of Attorney General, accused Daman of prescribing himself two 1,000-count bottles of Vicodin and admitting to law enforcement he used the hydrocodone to self-medicate despite knowing he was not allowed to order narcotics for himself.The affidavit also stated Daman surrendered 585 Vicodin tablets to investigators.Without a DEA registration, according to the state department filing, Daman is “unable to administer prescription pain medication for pain management and anesthetic protocols.”Despite this, the prosecuting attorney alleges, Daman continued to perform surgery “without proper prescription pain management medication” and in some cases continued dispensing narcotics despite being prohibited from doing so.In the latter instance, the state alleged, Daman instructed his veterinary staff to tell a pet owner to decrease their pet's phenobarbital anti-convulsant to every-other-day dispensations, with a non-narcotic anti-convulsant on the off-days, “so the phenobarbital would last longer since (he) did not have a DEA license to refill the phenobarbital.”Moreover, the state accused Daman of instructing staff to use nail polish remover to remove the dates on expired medications, so he could continue to use the medications.He also is accused of asking another veterinarian to provide him with controlled substances, so he could perform procedures while his registration is revoked.In another instance, the state accuses Daman of asking a neighboring veterinarian to perform euthanasia for Daman at his clinic. That other veterinarian, according to the state, refused, “stating that it was illegal and would be considered redistributing schedule(d) drugs.”

The state's accusations do not end there.In the filing, the prosecuting attorney states Daman, 72, suffers from several physical conditions, at least one of which can result in weakness in a patient's hands; experiences hand tremors; and requires assistance with surgeries “due to loss of function and dexterity.” Despite those limitations, the state alleges, Daman performed 79 surgeries between January and May 12 this year.The state also accuses Daman of having difficulty remembering proper medication dosages, and in one instance increased a diabetic cat's insulin to “such an extremely high dose that the cat had a significant hypoglycemic episode.”Due to the severity of the accusations against Daman, one veterinarian described Daman as “unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety and present(ing) an immediate and clear danger to the public health and safety of the citizens of this commonwealth,” the filing stated.Daman will have a preliminary hearing within 30 days of June 9, which will determine whether his license should remain temporarily suspended, and the filing stated the state will commence a separate action to suspend, revoke or otherwise restrict Daman's license.