Godsell-Stytz v. State Med. Bd. of Ohio,
No. 01AP-809 (Ohio Ct. App. Feb. 19, 2002)

An osteopath appealed a lower court judgment upholding the state board's decision to revoke her license. The osteopath approached several physicians for pain medication while undergoing cancer treatment. When they all denied her the prescriptions, she self-prescribed the pain medication and came under investigation of the state board for prescribing without a current drug control license. Also, while on probation, the osteopath attested that she had never been subjected to discipline by another state board, but it was later determined that she had been disciplined by the state board in Michigan. The osteopath was also accused of fraud with regard to urine samples supplied to the board as part of her probation.

The state board revoked her license and this decision was upheld by the court of common pleas. The Court of Appeals of Ohio ruled that the decision of the board could be overturned only if it was not supported by "reliable, probative, and substantial evidence" and that the decision of the court of common pleas could be overturned only if the court abused its discretion. The court found that there was substantial evidence to uphold the state board's decision and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.