RAPID CITY - Osteopath Jeffrey A. Buckau and his Mountainside
Family Practice Clinic in Rapid City has apparently been shut down
after his license was suspended by the South Dakota Board of
Medical and Osteopathic Examiners.
A telephone recording at Mountainside's Rapid City office
confirmed that the office has been closed. The message ended with:
"We intend to fight this as far as we can in the courts."
After several inquiries last week by the Rapid City Journal,
the Board's executive director, Margaret Hansen, issued a written
statement:
"The (Board) has suspended the license of Jeffrey A. Buckau
D.O. because of his violations of the Medical Practices Act. He
will be afforded all his due process rights at a hearing in which
the SDBMOE is required to establish whether his license will be
cancelled, suspended, or revoked."
The statement did not specify what violations Buckau is
alleged to have committed. Hansen said a hearing date has not been
scheduled.
Buckau's office at 3625 Fifth St. appeared to be empty on
Friday, and Buckau was not available for comment. He also has an
office in Lead, which appears to have been closed as well.
Osteopathy is a school of medicine and surgery that employs
various methods of diagnosis and treatment, but it places special
emphasis on the relationship of the musculo-skeletal system with
other body systems.
In the United States, osteopaths are fully licenced and
considered the equivalent of medical doctors.