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A Fall River doctor who was reprimanded by the state Board of Medicine for not disclosing he had been charged with a criminal offense has had his license temporarily suspended for allegedly harassing a patient.
According to a statement from the Massachusetts Board of Medicine, the state’s Board of Registration in Medicine has determined Dr. William E. O’Connor “poses a serious and immediate threat to the public health, safety, and welfare.”
The board decided to suspend O’Connor’s license Feb. 6.
According to a board spokesman, O'Connor's listed medical specialties are facial plastic surgery and otorhinolaryngology, which deals with conditions in the ear, nose and throat.
At the time of his last license renewal in 2019, the board spokesman said, O'Connor listed his place of business as Truesdale Health in Fall River. A spokesperson for Truesdale, describing the clinic as a "real estate entity" that leases office space to health care providers, told The Herald News they were "not at liberty" to confirm whether O'Connor is still a leaseholder in the President Avenue building.
Some time around May 2018, according to the board's statements, a former patient of O’Connor's obtained an abuse prevention order against the doctor, which required that the doctor stay at least 100 yards away from the former patient. The abuse prevention order was extended in 2018 and 2019 after O’Connor allegedly continued to violate a no-trespass notice.
The board’s statement notes that on or about Sept. 27, 2019, Orleans District Court issued a straight warrant for O’Connor’s arrest, charging him with trespassing, violation of an abuse prevention order and attempting to commit a crime, which in O’Connor’s case was breaking and entering.
He was arraigned Wednesday on the charges in Orleans District Court and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing April 3.
According to a Brewster Police Department report, officers responded to a Brewster residence Sept. 14 of last year after the homeowner, who wasn't home at the time, said he spotted O’Connor trespassing on his property via a security camera.
O’Connor allegedly tried to open the side door of the house to get inside, the report states.
“He was scared off when the light by the door turned on,” the report states. ”(O’Connor) is also seen entering the outdoor shower. In the past (O’Connor) has turned on the outdoor shower and left the water running while the homeowners were away.”
Police said the complainant's wife was O’Connor’s former girlfriend. She was also a former patient of O'Connor's, who had obtained a restraining order against him around May 2018, according to the Board of Registration in Medicine.
The abuse prevention order was extended to 2019 after O’Connor “continued to violate a no-trespass notice,” the board said.
O’Connor, 71, a resident of Westport who became licensed to practice medicine in Massachusetts in 1980, has been investigated by the Board of Registration in Medicine before.
According to a 2016 press release issued by the board, O’Connor was formally reprimanded by the board that year after the board discovered the doctor had failed to report on his medical license renewal application that he had been charged with a criminal offense. A board spokesman said Wednesday that the charge in question was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
As a result of his formal reprimand, O’Connor was ordered by the board to pay a $2,500 fine and complete 25 hours of community service.
O’Connor, according to the Board of Registration in Medicine, is a 1979 graduate of Faculte de Medicine, Universite de l’Etat a Liege in Belgium, and has received certification from the American Board of Otolaryngology.
According to the 2016 statement, O’Connor was also licensed to practice medicine in Rhode Island at the time. The Rhode Island Licensing Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of O'Connor's license in that state.
Following his suspension, O’Connor has the right to a hearing at the Division of Administrative Law Appeals within seven days.
This story includes reporting from The Cape Cod Times.