SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Medical Board of California has extended the probation of an anesthesiologist who was caught walking into hospital walls while impaired at work after she failed to undergo mandatory drug and alcohol testing.
Dr. Anna Bowling didn't give mandatory biological fluid samples in January and four times last year, according to state records.
Probation documents from the medical board state that Bowling is “evasive, uncooperative, and routinely refuses to answer probation-specific questions asked by probation inspectors.”
In October, the medical board gave Bowling another year of probation on top of the seven years she was already ordered to serve in 2024.
“In Dr. Bowling's case, it seems like they're using the bare minimum in terms of tools they have to issue discipline to a license,” said Michele Monserratt-Ramos, a patient advocate with Consumer Watchdog in Los Angeles.
Bowling came onto the medical board’s radar after she was caught walking into walls while impaired on the job at Scripps Memorial Hospital in Encinitas in 2022.
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Scripps told us last year that the doctor lost her hospital privileges after the incident and had not worked at a Scripps facility since May 2022.
Monserratt-Ramos, who has been fighting for the medical board to crack down on substance-abusing physicians, said Bowling’s case makes her feel frustrated and shows the regulator is protecting doctors instead of the public.
"I've been working on this issue for well over a decade now. And I come from personal experience with losing a loved one from a cocaine-addicted surgeon.”
State records show Bowling failed to check in for potential drug and alcohol testing four times in 2024.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Bowling is currently self-employed as an anesthesiologist. It's unclear where she may be working on a day-to-day basis.
During the 2022 incident, she tried to drive off in her car after being caught high at work, probation records show.
Hospital staff called law enforcement
The doctor had injected herself with propofol, a powerful anesthetic and gone missing during her shift before she tried to leave the hospital. Outside, colleagues boxed her vehicle in and called security to intervene before sheriff’s deputies arrived. Law enforcement warned the doctor she’d be arrested for driving under the influence if she tried to leave, documents say.
“What happened to her patients during that time when she was clearly impaired during her shift while practicing on patients, while leaving the (operating room)? What about her patients? That's our concern,” said Monserratt-Ramos.
Doctor has restrictions on license: board
Monseratt-Ramos said the medical board has several vacancies in its probation department, which leaves fewer resources to keep tabs on doctors under watch by the regulator.
“There needs to be stricter probation monitoring of physicians, especially substance-abusing physicians,” she said.
The medical board told Team 10 Bowling can keep working as long as she complies with a series of restrictions on her license.
“The board’s probation staff monitor licensees like Dr. Bowling to help ensure they comply with the terms of their probation. When probation violations are identified, like those that led to the October order that extended Dr. Bowling’s probation with new conditions, the board can take additional actions to protect the public,” board spokesperson Alexandria Schembra said in a statement.
Bowling’s attorney didn’t return a request for comment.
Last year, he told Team 10 the doctor would be fully compliant with her probation and had hoped to make a positive impact on the well-being of other physicians and medical professionals.
