Dr. Robert Ladd, who was charged with TennCare fraud last month, has been terminated from providing care through BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee commercial networks, according to Mary Thompson, media relations manager.

As of March 25, Ladd will also be terminated from TennCare and BlueCare Select networks.

The bureau of TennCare, which requires a 30-day notice to both personal care providers (PCP) and their members, sent letters of notice to Ladd and his clients last month, Thompson said.

Members - in this case, Ladd's patients - are automatically assigned to another PCP.

Ladd, an osteopathic physician, also faces non-criminal charges of misconduct before... the Tennessee Board of Osteopathic Examiners.

This case came to be heard on November 7 and 9, 2005, and was continued at the request of Ladd's attorney, Derrick C. Smith.

It will be scheduled for a continued hearing after March 20, according to Andrea Turner with the Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner's Office.

The Board is authorized, but not limited to the following provisions: Denial, suspension, and revocation of licenses or certificates; enjoining violations; enforcement; and investigations.

The grounds on which the Board may exercise these provisions include unprofessional, dishonorable or unethical conduct; gross, or a repeated pattern of malpractice; dispensing, prescribing or otherwise distributing any controlled substance or any other drug not in the course of professional practice, or not in good faith to relieve pain and suffering, or not to cure an ailment, physical infirmity or disease; or to any person if such person is addicted to the habit of using controlled substances without making a bona fide effort to cure the habit of such person.

Ladd also faces charges before the Board of trading prescription drugs for sexual favors, in violation of the American Osteopathic Association's Code of Ethics.

Investigations into Ladd's medical practices date back to March of 1989, when his license was suspended for six months for a “pattern of ignorance, negligence or incompetence in the course of medical practice,” according to Tennessee Department of Health records.

Ladd is scheduled to appear on TennCare Fraud charges in the criminal court of Macon County on June 5 at 9 a.m. before Judge J.O. Bond.