The suspension of Dr. John Hagmann's license by the Medical Quality Assurance Commission is based on a June decision by the Virginia Board of Medicine to revoke his license in that state.
After retiring in 2000 following an influential, 20-year career in the Army, Hagmann founded Deployment Medicine Consultants, a trauma-response training firm.
Medical students who took Hagmann's courses told the Virginia board that he plied students with hypnotic drugs during training sessions. The board ruled that Hegmann, who had earned at least $10.5 million in government contracts since 2005, engaged in "predatory and coercive conduct" with his students.
In an order dated August 14, the Washington state commission said:
"It is ordered that respondent's license to practice as a physician and surgeon is summarily suspended pending further disciplinary proceedings by the commission."
The Washington commission cited findings that Hagmann had performed procedures under the influence of alcohol and in unsterile conditions, exploited course participants for sexual gratification and dispensed controlled drugs without being licensed to do so, Reuters reported.
The misconduct cited by the Washington commission and Virginia board occurred in Virginia, Colorado, North Carolina and the United Kingdom.
While Hagmann's alleged misconduct took place out of state, a doctor whose license has been revoked in other states for acts that are prohibited in Washington can face suspension in Washington well, the commission's attorney said.
Hagmann is also under fire from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for his use of pigs to help teach emergency-medical courses. PETA released an undercover video that showed pigs shot in the face and stabbed so that students could practice emergency medicine on them.
Military officials had known about Hagmann's methods for years. A four-star general briefly halted the practices in 2005, but the doctor later resumed his government contracts, Reuters reported.
