Medical board counsel
TOPEKA — An assistant attorney general is the new general counsel for the state board that licenses and regulates doctors.
He is William Scott Hesse, and he plans to begin his new job Aug. 18. The Board of Healing Arts announced his appointment today.
He replaces Mark Stafford, who stepped down June 1 after legislators sought personnel changes at the board.
Critics saw the board as too slow in investigating allegations of misconduct against physicians and too lax in its punishment.
The most recent high-profile case involved a Wichita-area physician who faces 34 federal charges, including unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death. He maintains his innocence.
Japan blocks beef
TOKYO — Japan has halted beef imports from a U.S. meatpacking plant after finding a shipment without a proper food safety certificate, officials said Friday.
The Agriculture Ministry has temporarily suspended imports from Cargill’s plant in Dodge City and asked the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to investigate the case, the ministry said in a statement.
The problem surfaced when a Japanese importer found 9.9 pounds of ground beef that was not properly identified on papers issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The problem meat arrived as part of a shipment of 4.2 tons of frozen beef shoulder in July.
Investigation is still continuing for the rest of the shipment.