New hoarding horrors: Tennessee suspends animal cruelty suspect's nursing license, calling him a 'danger to his patients' and the public

A volunteer holds one of more than 50 animals that were discovered in deplorable conditions in Sequatchie County Friday in the Ewtonville community, just north of Dunlap.
A volunteer holds one of more than 50 animals that were discovered in deplorable conditions in Sequatchie County Friday in the Ewtonville community, just north of Dunlap.

State officials suspended the nursing license of Geoffrey Deane Peterson in an emergency order Tuesday and listed 17 reasons why the 54-year-old's recent actions present an "extreme and untenable danger to his patients and the public of Tennessee," according to the order of summary suspension.

Chattanooga police continued Wednesday to search for the accused dog hoarder, who is wanted on a charge of willful neglect of his father. The warrant for his arrest came after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Friday raided two medical practices where Peterson -- a registered advanced practice nurse -- treated patients.

Peterson was arrested in December on suspicion of animal cruelty after Sequatchie County Sheriff's deputies discovered more than 60 animals -- mostly dogs -- locked up in a squalid Dunlap home.

HOW THE INVESTIGATION UNFOLDED

Dec. 19, 2014: Geoffrey Deane Peterson was arrested after officers with the Sequatchie County Sheriff's Department found 58 animals, including dogs, cats, a pigeon and a goat, inside a home in Dunlap, Tenn. Dec. 20: An officer with McKamey Animal Services found three emaciated dogs in the exam rooms at Holistic Health and Primary Care, where Peterson saw patients. Dec. 23: McKamey officers removed seven more emaciated dogs from a home in Chattanooga that had been linked to Peterson. Jan. 12, 2015: The Tennessee Department of Health sent an investigator to Peterson's hormone replacement clinic after receiving a complaint on Peterson's license. But Peterson locked the doors of the clinic and refused to let the investigator inside. On the same day, the investigator tried to speak to Peterson's father, Walter Peterson, at a home in Hixson. Before the investigator left his car, Geoffrey Peterson arrived, banged on the car and demanded the investigator leave. Jan. 15: Chattanooga police officers attempted to check on Walter Peterson but Geoffrey Peterson refused to let the officers into the home. Jan. 12 - Jan. 23: Adult Protective Services attempted to check on Walter Peterson three times. Jan. 23: DEA agents raided Peterson's two clinics and a home connected to him. A former patient said Peterson ran a pill mill. Jan. 23: Multiple agencies executed a warrant to search Walter Peterson's home. He was found in poor condition and taken to a hospital. Peterson's wife, 88-year-old Sheila Peterson, was arrested and charged with willful abuse or neglect of an elder. A warrant was issued for Geoffrey Peterson on the same charge. Jan. 27: The Tennessee Board of Nursing suspends Geoffrey Peterson's nursing license in an emergency order.

The order reveals sordid details about what investigators found and how the now month-long investigation involving Peterson unfolded.

Authorities discovered a dead puppy -- wrapped in a towel with a bow -- in the freezer in the Dunlap home's kitchen, as well as two dead adult dogs and a dead opossum. The frozen carcasses were stored right next to human food.

They found prefilled syringes and vials of morphine, shopping bags full of used needles, steroids and a marijuana pipe in the Dunlap home.

Emaciated dogs were kept in feces-filled exam rooms at one of Peterson's Hixson medical practices while he saw patients at the clinic.

Peterson repeatedly screamed and cursed at investigators from the Department of Health, Chattanooga police and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office when they attempted to check on the welfare of his father.

In addition to the two medical clinics, DEA agents also raided a Hixson home connected to Peterson on Friday. Agents found his 88-year-old father, Walter Peterson, in poor condition, according to the order. The elder Peterson, who is listed as his son's supervising physician, was taken to a local hospital. The older man's wife, 88-year-old Sheila Peterson, was arrested and charged with willful neglect, abuse or exploitation of an adult.

Chattanooga police issued a warrant for Peterson on the same charge. He is at large, on bond from the Sequatchie County charges.

The DEA would not confirm any details about why agents raided Peterson's clinics, but a former patient told the Times Free Press that he believes Peterson was running a pill mill -- prescribing powerful narcotics for nonmedical reasons.

Peterson was one of the top 50 prescribers of morphine equivalents in Tennessee between April 2013 and March 2014, according to the suspension order issued by the Tennessee Board of Nursing.

Each year, prescribers identified as in the top 50 are notified by the state and must write response letters that justify why they are prescribing so much morphine and similar drugs. In his response letter in August 2014, Peterson "indicated he had no intention of curbing his prescribing practices," the order states.

But one of Peterson's attorneys, Nashville-based Dan Warlick, said the list of top 50 providers shouldn't matter.

"That is used to inflame and aggravate people, but it's meaningless," he said. "It's a totally illegitimate statistic to use. Suppose he has 9,000 patients and the average doctor has 2,000. Or suppose he's treating a lot of hospice patients, which is something he does. So even though the Department of Health puts that on [the order] as proof, it's not a legitimate way to assess anything."

Warlick is representing Peterson in the medical license case, but said another attorney is handling the criminal charges. He said Peterson plans to see how the criminal cases play out before deciding whether to fight to restore his nursing license, which was issued in 1994 and is set to expire in October.

photo Geoffrey Peterson who is charged with animal cruelty in Sequatchie County.

Warlick also emphasized that state officials have not made any specific accusations about Peterson's nursing competence, but suspended his license because of the suspicions of animal hoarding and pain management and elder abuse.

"The fact that Walter Peterson is in poor condition may be entirely contributable to his diseases," Warlick said. "He has had cancer and he's 89, he's on the way out. His condition may or may not be predicated on how he is being treated."

But the Tennessee Board of Nursing clearly disagreed, and suggested that the younger Peterson should submit to a mental health evaluation.

"[Peterson's] apparent impaired judgment combined with the high amount of controlled substances he prescribes and unsanitary conditions of his practice create an extreme and untenable danger to his patients and the public of Tennessee," the order reads. "[Peterson's] actions constitute a serious and immediate danger to the public's health, safety and welfare and require emergency action by this board."

Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.

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