PRESCOTT, AZ — The Arizona State Board of Nursing took emergency action and suspended the license of a Prescott nurse practitioner after finding a high risk to public health and safety due to the improper use of a powerful sedative.
The board voted to immediately suspend Phillip Schafer’s license at its September meeting based on the preliminary findings detailed in a 10-page emergency order. According to an audio recording of the meeting, Schafer, and his attorney both did not attend.
During the discussion around Schafer’s suspension, board members described the investigative report as very concerning and said there was a lot to the case.
The nursing board found on seven occasions Schafer “practiced outside of his scope of practice” when he ordered IV ketamine treatments for patients he diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression without collaboration with a specialist mental health provider, according to the emergency order.
Ketamine is a potent sedative and general anesthetic used in hospitals and by paramedics. In recent years, some clinics have started using lower doses of the drug to treat patients with mental illness, including depression, through IV infusions of ketamine.
Schafer was licensed as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.
The emergency order said Schafer owned a clinic in Prescott. Prescott Ketamine listed Schafer as a certified nurse injector and had a photo of him on its website, but the clinic recently removed Schafer from its site.
Records from the Secretary of State’s office list Schafer as the trade name applicant for Artisan Aesthetics in Prescott, and had Schafer previously listed as a member of its team on their website.
The nursing board also said Schafer wrote in an investigative questionnaire, “that he will give low dose ketamine intramuscularly for aesthetic treatments, including specific invasive CO2 lasers and Morpheus 8 micro needling procedures,” which is outside the standard of care. The standard of care for pain management for aesthetic procedures does not include giving a controlled substance like ketamine, the board said.
The ABC15 Investigators called Artisan Aesthetics and an employee who answered the phone said Schafer no longer works at the company but wouldn’t confirm whether he still owned the business. The employee also described the allegations against Schafer as hearsay.
The board also found Schafer prescribed his employees “Oxycodone,” “Percocet” and “Codeine syrup” and “did not document an encounter for any visit in a medical record.”
The emergency order also said Schafer admitted, during an interview with the board, to falsifying a medical record when he forged a colleague’s name on a nursing note after the patient had an adverse reaction to ketamine around the same time.
Schafer also told the board, during an interview, that he was not always present in the clinic when patients were receiving IV ketamine treatments which the board said was in violation of the standard of practice.
The ten-page order includes several other accusations against Schafer including that he “asked all staff to take ketamine infusions for the purpose of explaining the experience, by telling them they cannot convince patients if they do not know how the treatment helps.”
ABC15 contacted Schafer directly about the findings and suspension by the state board. Cody Hall, an attorney representing Schafer provided an emailed statement which said Schafer disagrees with the board’s summary suspension and looks forward to responding to the allegations against him. His attorney said Schafer couldn’t comment further under Arizona law.
The Arizona State Board of Nursing said Schafer requested an administrative hearing, which is scheduled for November 2nd. Following the hearing, and unless a settlement is reached, the case will go back to the board for a final decision.
Read the full statement from Schafer’s attorney, Cody Hall:
Mr. Schafer cannot comment on the Board suspension. Under Arizona law, a licensed professional “may not release [information received from the Board] to any other person or entity or use it in any proceeding or action except in connection with the board's review of the investigation, the disciplinary interview and any administrative proceedings or appeals related to the disciplinary interview or hearing. A person who violates this subsection commits an act of unprofessional conduct.
Mr. Schafer disagrees with the Board’s summary suspension and looks forward to responding to the allegations against him and to the Board’s decision as permitted by Arizona law.
