Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to include the complaint brought against Physician Assistant Julie Salisbury by the Commonwealth of Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure has placed Owensboro physician Dr. Jeremy Luckett’s medical license on probation following incidents involving his supervision of Julie Anne Salisbury, a physician’s assistant.
According to the order, Luckett completed an application to supervise Salisbury on May 6, 2021, and accepted responsibility for the care she provided to patients. Salisbury treated and prescribed controlled substances to a patient with a history of substance abuse. The patient died of an overdose on June 12.
When approached, Luckett did not comment in time for publishing.
The board later launched an investigation on Luckett concerning his supervision of Salisbury.
The report indicates that in February 2023, the board launched a separate investigation of Luckett following a grievance from an Owensboro-based OB-GYN physician. The local physician issued concerns after reviewing a KASPER form, which facilities use to determine if there has been any inappropriate employee-controlled substance prescribing or dispensing.
The KASPER report reflected that a prescription for Endocet was filled every 30 days. The quantity of the prescription was 360 pills for 30 days. The grievant raised the possibility that the patient was diverting the narcotics because she reported only taking one to two tablets per day.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) completed a report in July 2023. The report expressed concerns about Luckett’s prescription practices and recommended reviewing 18 charts, including the abovementioned patient.
After the review, the board consultant determined that Luckett was below the minimum standard in 4 of the 18 charts reviewed.
During January of this year, Luckett’s counsel responded to the board, stating that he had already implemented multiple recommended changes and improvements to his practice patterns.
Those changes included re-emphasizing with staff the need to obtain KASPER reports every three months, looking for instances where patients fill prescription drugs in quantities greater than one month, and performing urine drug screens (UDS) on patients receiving prescriptions for controlled drugs.
According to the same statement, Luckett also strengthened documentation of follow-ups when UDS results are inconsistent with a patient’s prescription, adding urine drug screen cups in patient rooms, generating a report of all patients with current opioid prescriptions to determine which patients were to be prescribed naloxone and writing additional naloxone prescriptions for patients identified during the review. He also pledged to utilize naloxone more frequently where indicated and to strengthen the documentation of discussions with toxicologists and instances of prescribing multiple controlled substances.
After reviewing Luckett’s response, the board consultant agreed to drop three of the charts, no longer finding them below the minimum standard. However, she did not adjust her opinion of Luckett’s care regarding the patient previously mentioned.
The agreed order between the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure and Lucket includes a probation period that runs five years from the date it was issued: May 16, 2024. Luckett must also maintain a controlled substances log and be subject to the board’s inspection at any time at his cost.
Luckett is required to enroll in a Proper Prescribing Course and the ProBe program. He also has to reimburse the board $1,050 and is subject to an emergency order of suspension or restriction if the board finds probable cause to indicate he’s violated any terms of the probation.
Luckett is currently the board chair of Owensboro Public Schools. Luckett was also the previous owner of The Peach Cobbler Factory off of KY 54, which closed this past January.
Read the full agreed order with Luckett below.
Read the full complaint about Salisbury below.
