Georgia Medical Board Orders - February 2026

February 2026 Public Board Actions List Georgia Composite Medical Board The Board issued 12 public orders in February 2026. To view each Board order, click on the licensee's name below. 1. Carlos Cossio, Sr., MD36127PhysicianFinal Decision2. Crystal Barnwell, MD42997PhysicianPublic Consent Order3. David Farbod Meriwether, MD87049PhysicianVoluntary Surrender4. Elis Y. Olson, MD31303PhysicianVoluntary Surrender5. George Arimah MD42787PhysicianPublic Consent Order6. Gianluca Cerri, MD 83868PhysicianPublic Consent Order7. Jean-Paul Landry, MD33777PhysicianPublic Consent Order

1. Joel Jones, DO 91108 Physician Public Consent Order 9. Rizwan S. Khan, DO 63251 Physician Amendment Public Consent Order 10. Syed Adnan Haider, MD 61084 Physician Order of Summary Suspension 11. Veronica H. Russ, PA Physician Assistant Public Consent Order 12. Vijay K. Mahathre, MD 41612 Physician Public Consent Order 11-21-2025BEFORE THE OFFICE OF STATE ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS STATE OF GEORGIA GEORGIA COMPOSITE MEDICAL BOARD, Petitioner, v. CARLOS COSSIO, SR, MD, Respondent. Docket No.: 2605372 2605372-OSAH-GCMB-PHY-29-Howells Agency Reference No.: 36127 INITIAL DECISION The Georgia Composite Medical Board (“Petitioner” or “Board”) initiated this matter for the purpose of sanctioning Respondent’s medical license. The hearing was conducted on October 24, 2025. Assistant Attorney General Vanessa Alva represented the Board. Miguel Cossio, Esq. represented Respondent Carlos Cossio, Sr., M.D. (“Respondent”). For the reasons stated below, the Board’s decision to sanction Respondent’s medical license is AFFIRMED. Findings of Fact 1. Respondent is licensed to practice as a physician in the State of Georgia. He received his Georgia medical license on October 8, 1992. His license is currently active. (Ex. P-5, P-6.) 2. On or about February 17, 2021, the Board received a complaint regarding Respondent’s lack of communication with, and lack of availability for a patient. The patient asserted that Respondent would meet him in a parking lot to give him a prescription or tape his prescription on the door of the clinic and ask the patient to put his payment in the mailbox. (Ex. P-1.) 3. On or about July 13, 2022, Petitioner was arrested and charged with Stalking and

Page 2 of 10 Disorderly Conduct as a result of incidents occurring after the end of his long-term relationship with L.K. On October 5, 2022, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor Stalking and misdemeanor Disorderly Conduct. He was sentenced to twenty-four months’ probation with the first 10 days to be served in confinement. (Exs. P-4, P-8.) 4. Cameron Rabbitt is the Director of Investigations with the Board. On March 15, 2023, Mr. Rabbitt met with Respondent regarding the February 2021 complaint. During the meeting, Respondent admitted that he would meet patients in the parking lot to give them prescriptions or he would tape the prescriptions to the door of his clinic and watch the patients pick up the prescription. He said that he did this because he did not want to see patients alone. Petitioner explained that his relationship with his long-term girlfriend, who worked with him, ended and he did not have anyone else working with him for approximately a month. This was the reason he provided for providing prescriptions to his patients in this unusual manner. (Testimony of Cameron Rabbitt.) 5. During the March 15, 2023 meeting, Mr. Rabbitt and Respondent discussed the prescription drug monitoring program (“PDMP”) which has been mandatory since 2018. Respondent was not enrolled in the PDMP and had no knowledge of it. He told Mr. Rabbitt that he had not checked his email in three years. Respondent acknowledged that he had approximately thirty to forty patients for whom he prescribed controlled substances. (Testimony of Cameron Rabbitt.) It appears there were subsequent arrests related to the issue with Respondent’s former girlfriend. (Ex. P-8.) The prescription drug monitoring program monitors practitioners who prescribe controlled substances and the patients receiving prescriptions for controlled substances.

Page 3 of 10 6. On March 16, 2023, Respondent provided a statement to the Board in response to the February 2021 complaint received by the Board. In the statement, Petitioner admitted to giving patient’s prescriptions in the parking lot and, in a few instances, leaving an envelope with their prescription, presumably taped to the door of his clinic, when he would have to be somewhere else. Respondent notified the Board that he had enrolled in the prescription drug monitoring program as of that day. However, he also appeared to criticize the program as an additional expense for physicians. (Ex. P-2.) 7. Respondent renewed his medical license on August 30, 2023. In that renewal application, he answered “Yes” to the question regarding plea bargains, arrests, indictments, or convictions. He provided an explanation regarding his arrest for stalking, which he related to the dissolution of a long-term relationship with his “fiancé.” (Ex. P-6.) 8. On August 31, 2023, Respondent participated in an interview with the Board. Prior to or during the interview, Respondent provided the Board with the Final Disposition of his Stalking and Disorderly Conduct charges, as well as a document showing that a third charge (Drugs Not in Original Container) was dismissed prior to indictment. (Ex. P-4.) 9. Thereafter, on October 2, 2023, the Board issued a Confidential Order for Mental/Physical Examination (“OMPE”). The Order required Respondent to submit to a mental/physical examination by a Board approved physician with expertise in conducting psychiatric evaluations in the area of professional boundary violations, within seven (7) days from the service of the

Page 4 of 10 OMPE. The OMPE notified Respondent that failure to comply with the OMPE may result in summary suspension of his license, unless the failure was due to circumstances beyond his control. Additionally, it notified Respondent that he must report to the Board any circumstances allegedly beyond his control. (Ex. P-7.) 10. Respondent did not comply with the OMPE within the deadline. He did not notify the Board about any problems with scheduling the OMPE. (Testimony of Kimberly Emm.) 11. In February 2024, the Board filed Matters Asserted with the Office of State Administrative Hearings (“OSAH”) regarding Respondent’s failure to comply with the OMPE. See Georgia Composite Medical Board v. Cossio, No. 2431143. Respondent submitted to a mental and physical examination with Dr. Susan Blank on April 16 and April 23, 2024. (Ex. P-8.) 12. Dr. Blank is Board-Certified in the areas of Psychiatry and Neurology, as well as other areas. After her evaluation of Respondent, it was her opinion that Respondent was not safe to practice as a physician due to her concerns about his boundaries, codependency, lack of insight into his poor choices, the impact of hi poor choices on others, and possible cognitive issues. (Ex. P-8 at p. 61.) She noted that Respondent frequently denied or minimized any negative attributes or undesirable characteristics. For example, he did not acknowledge common issues many people experience. Also, he denied or minimized his past arrests. For example, when discussing his prior arrest for indecent exposure, he asserted that it was a misunderstanding. When describing his four arrests related to stalking his ex-girlfriend, he did not seem to accept that his attempt to enter her On May 3, 2024, the Board dismissed, without prejudice, its Matters Asserted regarding Respondent’s failure to comply with the OMPE.

Page 5 of 10 vehicle at a stop light could be frightening for her. Respondent also denied that alcohol has any impact on his life; however, he admitted to having a previous DUI. (Ex. P-8; Testimony of Dr. Blank.) 13. Despite being previously diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (“OCD”), Respondent wrote on the bottom of one of the evaluation documents, “I never have obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors.” He did not complete the Yale Brown OCD Symptom Checklist. In doing so, he did not acknowledge any OCD symptoms either current or in the past. Similarly, during the hearing, Respondent asserted that he has not had OCD symptoms or problems for seven years. Both Respondent’s failure to acknowledge past OCD symptoms on the Yale Brown OCD Symptom Checklist and his testimony at the hearing about not having OCD symptoms or problems for seven years are inconsistent with the excerpts from his psychiatrist’s medical records. (Ex. P-8 at pp. 19-20; Testimony of Dr. Blank; Testimony of Respondent.) 14. For example, during a November 23, 2022, telemedicine appointment with Dr. Asad Mehdi, Respondent’s Chief Complaint was “I am still having OCD.” He reported that he was still having negative thought and rumination.” During his January 25, 2023 telemedicine appointment with Dr. Mehdi, Respondent reported that he was having “less obsessive thoughts.” (Ex. P-8 at p. 7.) It appears that Respondent first began seeing Dr. Mehdi, on October 26, 2022, shortly after he was twice arrested for approaching his ex-girlfriend. During that appointment, Respondent’s Chief Complaint was “I have OCD.” He told Dr. Mehdi that he stopped seeing his old psychiatrist three years ago and that he stopped taking his medicine because he felt better. He denied any active OCD symptoms during that visit. Nonetheless, Dr. Mehdi prescribed Cymbalta 30 mg a day and directed Respondent to begin psychotherapy to address his OCD, separation anxiety, and previous relationship issues. (Ex. P-8 at p 7.)

Page 6 of 10 15. Dr. Blank noted that Respondent’s denial of ever having OCD made it difficult to evaluate him and difficult to arrive at firm diagnoses. When Respondent told Dr. Blank that he had taped a prescription for a patient to the door, she became very concerned. She is concerned that in trying to please his patients and wanting them to like him, he may make treatment decisions that are not in his or his patients’ best interests. (Testimony of Dr. Blank.) 16. Ultimately, Dr. Blank did conclude that Respondent has boundary and codependency issues. She was unable to arrive at a firm diagnosis of OCD due to Respondent either not being forthright or not being able to remember. She concluded that he was not safe to practice because she could not make definitive diagnoses and therefore, she could not clearly determine the cause of his behavior. (Testimony of Dr. Blank.) 17. Dr. Blank recommended the following: (1) Respondent receive treatment at a center that specializes in treating health care professionals with codependency and boundary violations. As part of that treatment, Respondent should be further evaluated for addiction and OCD/anxiety disorder and undergo neurocognitive testing prior to discharge. (2) Respondent be monitored by the Georgia Professional Health Program after he completes his treatment. Dr. Blank was unsure whether Respondent was being intentionally less than forthright or whether there is a cognitive component and perhaps he cannot remember previous diagnoses or issues. Dr. Blank suggested three possible treatment centers: Meadows Treatment Center in Wickenburg, AZ, Meadows PHP in Atlanta, and The Bridge to Recovery in Bowling Green, Tennessee.

Page 7 of 10 (3) Respondent establish care with a primary care provider who is not a family member. (Ex. P-8 at p 46.) 18. In May 2025, Respondent participated in an interview with the Board’s Wellness Committee. Thereafter, the Board provided Respondent with two options to continue practicing; either he enrolls in the Professional Health Program (“PHP”) or he complies with the treatment recommendations provided by Dr. Blank. As of the date of the hearing, the Board had no information that Respondent has pursued enrollment with the PHP or that he had undergone the treatment recommended by Dr. Blank. Additionally, during the hearing, Respondent acknowledged that it had been five months since he last saw his psychiatrist, Dr. Mehdi, and his psychologist, Dr. Goetz. (Testimony of Kimberly Emm; Testimony of Respondent.) Conclusions of Law 1. The Board seeks to sanction Respondent’s medical license. Accordingly, the Board bears the burden of proof. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 616-1-2-.07. The standard of proof is a preponderance of the evidence. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 616-1-2-.21. 2. In its Matters Asserted and Statutes and Rules Involved, the Board asserted that Respondent violated Georgia Code Section 43-34-8(a)(10) [Violation of a law, rule, or regulation regulating the practice of medicine], (13) [Become unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety], (19) [Failed to maintain appropriate medical records], and (21) [Failed to comply with federal laws and standards relating to the practice of medicine]. At the time of Dr. Blank’s evaluation, Respondent’s brother Miguel Cossio, M.D. was prescribing all of his medications, including his Cymbalta, which was initially prescribed by Dr. Mehdi. (Ex. P-8, at p. 12.)

Page 8 of 10 3. The Board also asserted that Respondent violated Georgia Code Section 43-34-8(a)(7) when he engaged in unprofessional conduct as defined by Board Rule 360-3-.02(7) [Failing to maintain appropriate patient records when prescribing controlled substances], 360-3-.02(13) [Practicing while mentally, physically, or chemically impaired], 360-3-.02(18) [Practicing below the minimum standard of care], and 360-3-.02(20) [Failing to report to the Board within 30 days of becoming unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety]. Violations 4. Georgia Code Section 43-34-8(a), which is the specific licensing and disciplinary statute for the medical profession, states, in pertinent part, that the Board has the authority to discipline a licensee, upon a finding that the licensee has: (10) Violated or attempted to violate a law, rule, or regulation of this state, the board, the United States, or any other lawful authority without regard to whether the violation is criminally punishable, when such law, rule, or regulation relates to or in part regulates the practice of medicine, when the licensee or applicant knows or should know that such action violates such law, rule, or regulation; or violated a lawful order of the board previously entered in a disciplinary hearing. . . . (13) (A) Become unable to practice pursuant to this chapter with reasonable skill and safety to patients by reason of illness or use of alcohol, drugs, narcotics, chemicals, or any other types of material, or as a result of any mental or physical condition. O.C.G.A. § 43-34-8(a)(10), (13). In this case, the Board proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Respondent violated a Board rule when he failed to enroll in the PDMP by January 18, 2018, as required by Ga. Comp. R. & Reg. 360-38-.02(1). Respondent admittedly failed to check his email for three years. He should have known about this requirement. Notwithstanding, Respondent did ultimately enroll in the PDMP in March 2023, when it was brought to his attention.

Page 9 of 10 5. The Board also proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Respondent became unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety. Respondent engaged in behavior toward his ex- girlfriend, who was also an employee in his practice, that caused him to be arrested for Stalking and Disorderly Conduct. Respondent pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to ten days of confinement and two years of probation. Purportedly, as a result of losing his girlfriend and her daughter as staff members, Respondent engaged in the unusual behavior of leaving prescriptions for his patients taped to the door of his clinic, and, on a few occasions he admittedly did so at times when he left the premises. When the Board issued an OMPE, Respondent did not submit to an evaluation in a timely manner. In fact, he did not do so until the Board filed Matters Asserted to enforce the OMPE. When he did finally submit to the evaluation he was less than forthright. Despite previously being diagnosed with OCD, Respondent stated that he never has obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors. By not completing the Yale Brown OCD Symptom Checklist, he did not acknowledge any OCD symptoms either current or in the past. In light of Respondent’s behaviors, his efforts to minimize any negative attributes, his lack of candor, his lack of insight into his poor choices and the impact those choices have on others, as well as possible cognitive issues, Dr. Blank concluded that Respondent was not safe to practice. 6. The Board failed to prove violations of Georgia Code Section 43-34-8(a)(7), (19), or (21). The Board presented no evidence of patient records, no evidence of a federal statute or standard with which Respondent failed to comply, no opinions that Respondent’s care fell below the minimum standards of acceptable and prevailing practice, no specific opinion that Respondent was practicing medicine while mentally, physically, or chemically impaired, and no specific evidence

Page 10 of 10 that Respondent failed to make a report to the Board within 30 days of becoming unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety as a result of the use of alcohol or drugs or a mental or physical condition. Sanction 7. Georgia Code Section 43-34-8(b) authorizes the Board to discipline a licensee upon a finding that the licensee has become unable to practice with reasonable skill and safety to patients or the licensee has violated the Board’s rules. When the Board finds that a physician should be disciplined, it may suspend (for a definite or indefinite period), revoke, limit, or restrict a license; administer a public or private reprimand; make an adverse finding but withhold imposition of judgment; or impose the judgment but suspend the enforcement of such judgment and place the physician on probation. O.C.G.A. § 43-34-8(b)(1), (2). Additionally, the Board may condition the penalty upon the licensee’s submission to and completion of care, counseling, or treatment by physicians or other professional persons. O.C.G.A. § 43-34-8(b)(1)(K). ORDER For the above and foregoing reasons, this Court finds that Respondent’s license to practice medicine in the State of Georgia should be SUSPENDED indefinitely, until: 1. Respondent submits to and completes the treatment and additional evaluations as outlined by Dr. Blank; or 2. Respondent enrolls in the Professional Health Program and completes any evaluation and treatment for which Respondent is referred by the Professional Health Program. SO ORDERED, this 21st day of November, 2025. Stephanie M. Howells, Judge

Page 2 of 5 3. Respondent admits the above findings of fact and waives any further findings of fact with respect to the above-styled matter. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW Respondent's conduct, if proven, constitutes sufficient grounds for the imposition of discipline upon her license to practice as a licensed physician in the State of Georgia, under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapters 1 and 34, as amended. Respondent hereby waives any further conclusions of law with respect to the above-styled matter. ORDER 1. The Board, having considered all the facts and circumstances surrounding this case, hereby orders, and Respondent hereby agrees, that his license to practice medicine as a physician in the State of Georgia shall be subject to the following terms and conditions: 1. Fine. Within ninety (90) days of the docket date of this Consent Order, Respondent shall submit to the Board a fine in the amount of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00). Such fine shall be payable by cashier’s check or money order made payable to the Georgia Composite Medical Board and shall be submitted via mail to: Jason S. Jones, Executive Director, Georgia Composite Medical Board, 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SE, East Tower, 11th Floor, Atlanta, GA 30334. Failure to pay the fine within the stated time period shall be deemed a violation of this Consent Order and shall subject Respondent’s license to further disciplinary action, including revocation.

Page 3 of 5 2. Coursework. Within ninety (90) days of the docket date of this Consent Order, Respondent shall complete ten (10) hours of continuing medical education (“CME”) on recordkeeping and five (5) hours of CME on prescribing. Said course shall not be used as CME hours for renewal. Documentation for approval and for evidencing completion of coursework may be sent to Latisha Bias, Director of Compliance, via email to latisha.bias@dch.ga.gov, or as otherwise directed by the Board. Failure to submit the required documentation, within the stated time period, shall be deemed a violation of this Consent Order and shall subject Respondent’s license to further disciplinary action, including revocation. 2. In addition to and in conjunction with any other sanction contained herein, this Consent Order and dissemination thereof shall serve as a PUBLIC REPRIMAND to the Respondent for Respondent’s conduct. 3. If the Respondent shall fail to abide by all state and federal laws relating to drugs and regulating the practice of medicine in the State of Georgia, the Rules and Regulations of the Georgia Composite Medical Board, the terms of this Consent Order, or if it should appear from information received by the Board that the Respondent is unable to practice as a physician with reasonable skill and safety, Respondent's license may be further sanctioned or revoked, upon substantiation thereof.

*Please submit twoseparate payments(i.e. one check and/ormoney order for thefine and one checkand/or money orderfor the fee) or paymentmaybe rejected.*