A doctor whose medical license in Washington state was suspended after being linked to 18 opioid deaths has opened a new magic mushroom clinic in Oregon.
Dr. Frank ‘Danger’ Li ran a chain of pain clinics in Washington state until 2016, when regulators suspended his license, alleging that his clinics had inappropriately prescribed medications that contributed to the deaths of 18 people.
Li also had to pay $2.85 million to settle a case brought by the Justice Department that accused him of billing Medicare and Medicaid for thousands of unnecessary urine tests.
Despite his fraught history, in January the Oregon Health Authority granted Li permission to open a facility serving psilocybin, better known as magic mushrooms.
Li has long denied the allegations and claimed in an interview with KATU 2 that his work in Washington had saved lives, saying, “We treated 33,000 patients and got 22,000 patients off opioids.”
Dr. Frank ‘Danger’ Li ran a chain of pain clinics in Washington state until 2016, when his license was suspended.
The Washington State Medical Commission accused Li of failing to adequately monitor the use of powerful prescription opioids. In the photo: the doctor’s new clinic.
After an investigation, he was banned from prescribing acute pain treatments in the state. His new clinic (pictured) focuses on supplying magic mushrooms.
Despite his track record, Li was granted permission by the Oregon Health Authority in January to open a psilocybin clinic. Pictured: Stock image of magic mushrooms.
In 2016, the Washington State Medical Commission accused Li of failing to adequately monitor the use of powerful prescription opioids.
This failure, they said, likely contributed to at least 18 current and recent patients dying since 2010.
They did not name the victims, but they did name records. seen by Wilamette Week list a 35-year-old woman who died of “acute methadone poisoning” three days after one of Li’s centers prescribed methadone, and a 58-year-old man who died in a car accident with oxycodone in his system, 19 days later the center had filled his prescription.
The regulator also said the prescriptions were so large they could have been resold on the streets.
They prohibited Li from prescribing treatments for acute pain and placed many other long-term restrictions on his medical practice.
Li denies the accusations, telling KATU: ‘We treated 33,000 patients and we got 22,000 patients off opioids, and we were able to reduce the mortality rate by more than 10 times.’
And he added: ‘Do I feel bad about any death? Absolutely. Do I take responsibility? I look for ways that can improve care. I look back and with 20/20 hindsight, what more could have been done? Yes absolutely.’
In 2020, when Li settled the Medicaid investigation, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Gorman wrote: ‘The prescribing of massive quantities of addictive opioids fueled a crisis that continues to plague our community.
‘This billing for unnecessary urine tests is a way for Dr. Li and his clinics to take advantage of the pain of others.
“Our investigation helped prevent Dr. Li and the providers he supervised from continuing to prescribe excessive and dangerous amounts of opioids.”
Despite this, Oregon allowed Li to open Immersive Therapies on Northwest Quimby Street in Portland in January.
The clinic advertises online as offering “world-class psilocybin services in the heart of Portland,” stating, “Mushrooms can transform stagnant patterns and take you deeper into connection, authenticity, and wonder.”
After an initial telephone consultation, patients are assigned a “facilitator” who stays with them throughout their “journey.” Patients take psilocybin and sit or lie in a relaxing themed room, with aquarium projections and violet lights.
Li opened Immersive Therapies on Northwest Quimby Street in Portland in January.
The clinic advertises online as offering “world-class psilocybin services in the heart of Portland.”
Patients take psilocybin and sit or lie in a relaxing themed room, with aquarium projections and violet lights.
Li, who grew up in Atlanta and studied in California, told Wilamette Week that he became depressed and “drank a lot” after the scandal, saying, “I didn’t have the psychological strength that I thought I had.”
Things changed in 2020, he said, when he tried ketamine, telling the newspaper: “I merged with a higher consciousness where there was joy and suffering simultaneously.” Having a sense of how everything balanced out gave me some peace.”
Ketamine, in turn, led him to psilocybin and he was inspired to set up his clinic.
DailyMail.com has contacted Li for comment.
The Oregon Health Association told KATU they had received a complaint (it’s unclear from whom) about Li during the approval process for his new clinic, but their investigation concluded he could still obtain a license.
They said: ‘In this case, OPS received a complaint during the application process and opened an investigation to review the facts and determine whether the applicant could be licensed. The application process was halted during the investigation.
“Upon completion of the investigation, OPS determined that the facts did not support denial of licensure, the applicant passed the background check and met all requirements under Oregon law to obtain licensure.”