A Connecticut disciplinary panel has slapped former West Hartford psychiatrist Douglas Zelisko with a $150,000 fine, the maximum allowed, after revoking his medical license over allegations that he abandoned patients, wrote fraudulent prescriptions, and billed for visits that never happened. The penalty, handed down Wednesday, October 7, comes even as West Hartford police keep an active case open on Zelisko and he could still face criminal charges.
The Connecticut Medical Examining Board disciplinary panel imposed the $150,000 penalty on Wednesday, October 7, following its decision last month to revoke Zelisko's license, according to CTPost. Zelisko, who worked out of an office at 45 South Main St. in West Hartford, was accused by the state of multiple standard-of-care violations, including abandoning patients, breaching patient confidentiality, and engaging in unprofessional conduct with colleagues. The three-person panel voted unanimously to revoke his license, and under state law it could levy up to $25,000 per violation — ultimately applying that maximum to each of six patient complaints to reach the $150,000 total.
Zelisko did not attend his September 24 disciplinary hearing, and the case against him unfolded without any defense testimony. According to Inside Investigator, he phoned into a September 3 board meeting claiming a domestic violence situation prevented him from responding to subpoenas, but he never submitted a written defense, and all 21 public health charges against him were legally deemed admitted as a result. The outlet also reports he did not retain legal counsel for the administrative proceeding.
Allegations of Drugs, Fraud and Boundary Violations
Joelle Newton, an attorney for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, told the panel that Zelisko wrote prescriptions for ketamine and testosterone in a patient's name for his own personal use, socialized with patients at bars, and allowed patients to stay overnight at his residence. She said he also suggested patients hire his romantic partner as a life coach, despite that partner being unlicensed to work as one. “The respondent clearly violated the standard of care,” Newton said, per CTPost's reporting.
State charges identified that romantic partner as Aleixander Puerta and alleged the pair supplied illicit street drugs, including crack cocaine and methamphetamine, to a patient whose health subsequently deteriorated into a schizophrenia diagnosis requiring long-term hospitalization, Inside Investigator reported. The same outlet's reporting notes Puerta had no mental health training or education beyond high school, despite being presented to patients as a certified life coach.
Department of Public Health filings also found Zelisko issued roughly 1,260 prescriptions for controlled substances to about 152 patients between 2023 and 2025, and failed to check the state's prescription monitoring program database for 132 of those patients — a tool state regulations require prescribers to consult to prevent abuse and improper prescribing, per the same outlet's reporting.
A Ten-Month Delay Before Action
Formal complaints about Zelisko's conduct were submitted to the Department of Public Health by multiple local psychiatrists as early as September 2025, but state regulators did not issue an emergency summary suspension of his medical license until August 18, 2026, according to We-Ha. That nearly year-long gap drew criticism from state medical board members, with the board's chair questioning why the complaints took so long to reach the panel.
Following the emergency suspension, Zelisko voluntarily surrendered his Connecticut controlled substances license to the Department of Consumer Protection on August 21, 2026, according to Andreozzi + Foote, a law firm tracking the case. That step stripped his prescribing authority ahead of the full license revocation that followed weeks later.
Dr. Katherine Grieco, addressing the panel, said there's no amount of money that's going to be appropriate given the scope of the allegations. Dr. Robert A. Green, chair of the disciplinary panel, advocated for a very significant civil penalty, saying the panel should send a statement to the physician and citizens that it is doing its job.
A Collapsing Practice and a State Paycheck
Even as his private practice allegedly spiraled into misconduct, Zelisko continued drawing a substantial state salary. Between 2020 and 2025, he earned more than $1.6 million as a per-diem psychiatrist at Connecticut Valley Hospital through the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, including $483,575 in 2024 alone, Inside Investigator reported.
During roughly that same period, Zelisko's personal and financial life appeared to be unraveling. He was evicted for nonpayment from his West Hartford office space in 2025, faced a second commercial eviction in 2026, and had his Glastonbury home foreclosed upon, while also facing multiple debt-collection lawsuits from private creditors, according to We-Ha's reporting.
His entanglement with Puerta also surfaced in court paperwork. When securing a bail bond for Puerta following a January 2026 arrest, Zelisko listed his employer as State of Connecticut DMHAS – private practice. Zelisko also had a $630 debt to a bail-bond service, and Puerta was arrested in August 2026.
Zelisko earned his undergraduate degree from Amherst College, completed medical school at St. George's University School of Medicine, and finished his psychiatry residency at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, according to Headway, a provider directory that tracks clinician credentials.
What Comes Next
The West Hartford Police Department has an active case concerning Zelisko, and he could still face criminal charges, though no charges have been filed as of this report. Zelisko has not responded to multiple requests for comment and does not appear to have retained legal counsel throughout the disciplinary process, per CTPost.
He could appeal the board's decision to Connecticut Superior Court, or ask the board to reconsider its ruling. For now, the $150,000 fine and license revocation stand as the state's most forceful response yet to a case that regulators themselves acknowledged took far too long to stop.
