ELLENSBURG, Wash. — An Ellensburg doctor, who sold COVID vaccine exemptions and received dozens of complaints about her professional conduct, will keep her license to practice medicine following a decision by a state disciplinary board.
The decision stunned at least one former patient, who said Dr. Anna Elperin’s treatment plan “really messed up” his life.
Elperin, an osteopathic physician who owned Awake Health medical clinic, was the subject of at least 34 state complaints between September 2019 and June 2022, according to Washington State Department of Health (DOH) records reviewed by KING 5.
Complaints from staff, patients and members of the public accused the doctor of drinking and using drugs on the job, forging prescriptions, pointing a handgun at staff, and providing substandard care.
In addition, Elperin was at the center of a 2021 multi-part KING 5 Investigation, in which she sold medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine to four undercover journalists without asking medical questions or conducting a medical exam. Elperin signed the exemptions, that claim that a medical condition made the vaccine unsafe for the patient, for a fee of up to $200.
Elperin, whose license was suspended in September 2022, was scheduled to face a disciplinary hearing in November 2023 before the Washington State Board of Osteopathic Medicine. But instead of a hearing last month, the board quietly settled with the doctor in June.
She’ll pay a $5,000 fine, submit to state audits and be barred from issuing COVID vaccine waivers and Department of Transportation (DOT) medical cards, according to a KING 5 review of state disciplinary records. As result of the decision, the osteopathic physician, who became licensed to practice in 2015, is once again permitted to practice medicine in Washington state.
“I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think she should be able to keep her license,” said Dea Dunfee, one of Elperin’s former patients whose case was included in the state’s disciplinary review of the doctor’s license.
Dunfee, a diabetic from Selah, visited Elperin in 2021 for a DOT medical exam required for his job to drive a truck. He said Elperin took him off most of his medications and sold him hundreds of dollars in “nature pills.” Barely a month later, Dunfee ended up in the hospital from a stroke and seizures, according to both Dunfee and his state complaint against the doctor, reviewed by KING 5.
Before the settlement, state health regulators accused Elperin of certifying Dunfee for a commercial driver’s license without any medical justification, and advising him to discontinue medications without documentation or clarity, state records show.
Elperin did not respond to repeated messages from KING 5 seeking comment on the medical board's decision.
'Insufficient Evidence to Proceed'
The state osteopathic board found Elperin’s record keeping was “scant and inaccurate,” according to disciplinary records. It does not lay blame with her for Dunfee’s health troubles but found that she committed “unprofessional conduct” in his case.
Dunfee said he’s been unable to work for two years because of health problems.
The “agreed order” with the osteopathic board was signed by Dr. Yuri Tsirulnikov, a Skagit County Regional Health D.O. who headed the panel of osteopathic doctors that decided Elperin’s fate. Tsirulnikov did not return KING 5 phone calls. An office assistant said he would not comment on the Elperin decision.
The Washington State Department of Health (DOH), which investigated Elperin, also declined repeated requests for an interview to explain the decision.
Frank Ameduri, DOH spokesperson, provided few details in a written statement.
“Dr. Elperin’s case is an example of a board considering all the available evidence and arriving at what the board believes is the best outcome,” he wrote.
The disciplinary board found that Elperin’s treatment fell “below the standard of care” with nine patients. In addition to Dunfee, she failed to follow opioid prescribing regulations with four patients, and she issued COVID vaccine waivers to four patients without an exam, including two unnamed school employees and one medical worker, according to disciplinary records.
Ameduri wrote that there “was insufficient evidence to proceed” with allegations of drinking and drug abuse, although several employees made those accusations in interviews with DOH investigators and provided videos of some of her alleged misconduct.
According to the agreed order with the disciplinary board, Elperin “does not admit to or agree” with the findings of the board. In 2021, she told KING 5 she was “absolutely not” running a vaccine exemption mill.
Former employees said she pumped out waivers for hundreds of patients at the peak of the pandemic, turning her health and beauty practice Awake Health into an opportunistic moneymaker at a time when many employers required proof of vaccination.
The building on Main Street in Ellensburg where Elperin used to practice is now a print and copy store. It’s unclear if Elperin plans to return to practice.
Her legal troubles are not over. The Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) fined Elperin for numerous COVID related violations, like refusing to require facemasks at Awake Health.
Matt Ross, L&I spokesperson, said Elperin still owes the state $40,000 for repeated, blatant violations but “[we] have not been able to collect at this point.”