Board rejects Utah County doctor Max Cannon's request for reinstated license

SALT LAKE CITY — State officials refused this week to reinstate the license of a Utah County physician who was jailed in 2009 after his conviction on charges that he traded prescription drugs for sexual favors.

Members of the state's Physicians Licensing Board rejected Dr. Max Cannon's second bid to have his medical license reinstated after a hearing earlier this year in which Cannon blamed bipolar disorder for his past conduct.

Cannon had submitted a previous application for reinstatement of his license in February 2008, about 10 days after he was arrested during a hotel sex-sting operation involving a patient.

In a deal with prosecutors, he subsequently pleaded guilty to two third-degree felonies of distribution of a controlled substance and two class B misdemeanors of prostitution. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped similar misdemeanor and felony charges, and Cannon was sentenced to 120 days in jail, 36 months' probation and sex-offender specific counseling. He served the jail time and is still on probation and in counseling, according to the order rejecting his request for reinstatement.

Cannon appeared before the board for a lengthy hearing on Feb. 10 in a second attempt to regain his license. Mental health providers, two of his former patients, a police investigator and Cannon's wife all testified during the hearing, providing various accounts of his behavior.

One former patient testified she had traded sexual favors for prescription drugs, "50, 60, 100 times," while his wife, Kathleen, said his behavior at home had become increasingly erratic and frightening in the years prior to his arrest. She testified his behavior returned to "normal" after about six months of mental health treatment.

In the order dated April 26, rejecting Cannon's appeal, the state Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing noted his misconduct both in Utah and in Montana, where he allegedly had propositioned the mother of a patient for sex at a local hotel in 1994. Such episodes involved "a plan of ongoing deception to promote (Cannon's) personal benefit. Moreover, (his) conduct was entirely violative of the standards which govern an appropriate doctor/patient relationship."

The order said Cannon "lacks the requisite character … to qualify for any reinstatement of his licenses (both to practice medicine and to prescribe medications) at this time."