Raleigh -- The North Carolina Medical Board has suspended a Morganton psychiatrist's license because he failed to report DWI guilty plea from 1998 and a 2005 DUI conviction.
The board issued a consent order Oct. 8 suspending the license of Dr. Kurian Chiramel Abraham. The board immediately stayed the suspension, except for 30 days from Dec. 1 through Dec. 30. Abraham will remain on probation until April 8.
In its disciplinary report, the board says Abraham failed to mention an April 1998 DWI guilty plea on his medical license application, which he submitted in May 2001. In July 2001, when appearing before a panel of the board to discuss his application, Abraham also falsely answered "no" when asked whether he had ever been convicted of any crime other than a minor traffic violation.
Abraham then was arrested and charged on Jan. 1, 2005, with driving under the influence in Burke County. On Nov. 2, 2005, he was convicted.
In November 2008, the board received information about the 2005 incident. Abraham initially denied the existence of the 1998 conviction. He later contended that he relied on the advice of local counsel in his response.
According to his biographical information on the Web, Abraham earned his undergraduate degree at Baselius College in India and obtained his medical degree from M.R. Medical College in India.
He completed a pulmonology residency at KEM Hospital, Bombay, India, and a psychiatry residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. He also completed a Duke and GlaxoSmithKline Psychopharmacology Fellowship with advanced training in central nerve system new drug development and clinical trials at Duke University Medical Center in Durham. He is a member of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association.
Abraham was on the medical staff at Grace Hospital in Morganton five years ago, but is no longer associated in any way with the hospital or Blue Ridge HealthCare, according to vice president Jerry Davis.
