ELLENSBURG, Washington — A doctor in Ellensburg sold COVID-19 vaccine waivers and got dozens of complaints about how she behaved as a professional. A state disciplinary board decided she would keep her medical license.
One ex-patient was shocked by choice and said that Dr. Anna Elperin’s treatment plan “really messed up” his life.
Washington State Department of Health (DOH) records that KING 5 looked at show that Elperin, an osteopathic doctor who ran the Awake Health medical clinic, was the subject of at least 34 state complaints from September 2019 to June 2022.
People in the office, patients, and the public all complained that the doctor drank and used drugs at work, faked scripts, pointed a gun at staff, and gave poor care.
There was also a multi-part KING 5 investigation in 2021 that focused on Elperin. In that investigation, she sold medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine to four fake reporters without asking them any medical questions or exams. Elperin signed the waivers, which said that the patient couldn’t get the vaccine because of a medical condition, for a fee of up to $200.
In September 2022, Elperin’s license was taken away. In November 2023, the Washington State Board of Osteopathic Medicine was going to hold a disciplinary meeting for him. But there wasn’t a hearing last month. Instead, the board quietly reached a deal with the doctor in June.
A study of state disciplinary records by KING 5 shows that she will have to pay a $5,000 fine, allow state audits, and not be able to give out COVID vaccine waivers or Department of Transportation (DOT) medical cards. The ruling means that the osteopathic doctor, who got his license to practice in 2015, can once again work as a doctor in Washington state.
“That seems wrong to me.” One of Elperin’s former patients, Dea Dunfee, said, “I don’t think she should be able to keep her license.” Her case was part of the state’s review of the doctor’s license.
Dunfee, a diabetic from Selah, went to see Elperin in 2021 for a DOT medical test that he needed for his job as a truck driver. He said Elperin took away most of his medicines and sold him “nature pills” for a lot of money. Not even a month later, Dunfee was in the hospital with a stroke and seizures, according to both Dunfee and his state lawsuit against the doctor, which KING 5 looked at.
Before the settlement, state health officials said Elperin gave Dunfee a commercial driver’s license without any medical reason and told him to stop taking his medicines without any proof or explanation, state records show.
KING 5 sent Elperin several messages asking for a comment on the medical board’s ruling, but she never replied.