Kennewick doctor accused of being abusive and insulting

A Kennewick ophthalmologist is accused of abusing employees at his eye clinic and putting patients at risk.

Dr. Charles C. Sung of Retina Laser Eye Center has until later this month to respond to the charges made by the state Medical Quality Assurance Commission. His license remains active and he can continue practicing while the matter is worked out.

He couldn't be reached Tuesday about the claims.

Between August 2015 and August 2016, Sung was routinely disruptive at work, "berating, belittling and insulting other health care providers on staff," medical commission documents allege.

He used crude language and screamed when he believed employees were making mistakes — and the climate increased the potential for errors and put patients at risk, documents claim.

In two cases, Sung's frustration led to physical abuse, documents allege. Once, he hit a medical assistant on the arm several times, nearly causing her to poke herself with a needle, and another time he grabbed an assistant's arms and pressed her hands against a patient's head, documents said.

Sung also physically blocked two medical assistants from leaving a room after scolding them, and another time he cornered an assistant who objected to his instructions about a patient, said the state documents.

Sung also allegedly failed to act on employee complaints about co-workers, including in cases when threats were involved, and he dismissed employees' concerns about working with a convicted child molester, documents said.

Sung also allegedly had un-credentialed workers helping with procedures, and gave a patient tablets of his own personal medication and didn't document it in the patient's chart, documents said.

This story was originally published May 8, 2018 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Kennewick doctor accused of being abusive and insulting."