U.S. doctor's Washington state license suspended over troop training

(Reuters) - A Washington state board has suspended the medical license of a former U.S. Army doctor who earned millions in government training contracts but who witnesses said practiced bizarre medical procedures.

The suspension of Dr. John Hagmann's license by the Medical Quality Assurance Commission reciprocated the stripping of his license in Virginia in June after testimony that he plied students with hypnotic drugs during battlefield-trauma training.

Witnesses told the Virginia Board of Medicine that Hagmann, who had earned at least $10.5 million in government contracts since 2005, had performed penile nerve blocks and dangerous procedures, including intentionally inducing shock.

"It is ordered that respondent's license to practice as a physician and surgeon is summarily suspended pending further disciplinary proceedings by the commission," the Washington state panel said in an order dated Aug. 14.

The commission cited findings that Hagmann had performed procedures under the influence of alcohol and in unsterile conditions, exploited course participants for sexual gratification and dispensed controlled drugs without being licensed to do so.

Military officials had long known about Hagmann's methods. A four-star general briefly halted them in 2005, but the doctor later resumed his government contracts.

In the Virginia testimony, Hagmann was cited for training he provided in 2012 and 2013 in Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado and Britain.

A telephone call to Hagmann's office in Gig Harbor, Washington, was not immediately returned. Hagmann has told

Reuters that he did nothing wrong.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Eric Walsh)