SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Medical Board of California alleges an anesthesiologist who was previously caught high at work has failed to comply with her probation requirements.
In an April 3 filing, the board alleges Dr. Anna Bowling has failed to provide required samples for drug and alcohol testing.
"I think it's very serious. It directly affects patient safety,” said Marian Hollingsworth, a patient advocate who monitors medical board cases.
Bowling failed to give a biological fluid sample on Jan. 11, 2025. In 2024, she failed to give samples on May 28 and June 16; the board said in its petition to revoke her probation. The doctor also failed to check in to see if she had been selected for testing on four different occasions last year.
Hollingsworth said it was concerning that information wasn’t available to the public until the medical board posted its April 3 petition online.
“The medical board takes a long time to hold them accountable, and that puts more people at risk,” she said.
The board alleges that Bowling also failed to report where she was working and didn’t ensure a workplace monitor overseeing her practice submitted reports to the state agency.
Last year, Team 10 reported Bowling had been put on probation after she admitted to injecting herself with propofol, a powerful anesthetic, while on duty at Scripps Encinitas in 2022.
The doctor was walking into hospital walls, slurring her words and later admitted in an interview that she could have been called to the operating room while she was high.
Scripps Health said last year the doctor hadn’t worked at one of its hospitals since 2022.
The medical board has requested a hearing and is considering revoking her probation and medical license, but no date has been set.
Bowling and her attorney didn’t return Team 10's requests for comment.
