SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - An Orem plastic surgeon has agreed to surrender his medical licenses following an emergency suspension in November.
Dr. Joseph Berg agreed to surrender his physician and surgeon license, along with his controlled substance prescribing license to the The Utah Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing (DOPL).
THE DOPL also announced the issuance of an administrative Stipulation and Order against Berg, who agreed to undergo a drug rehabilitation program in Mississippi and to avoid re-applying for new licenses for three years.
Berg's licenses were suspended during an Emergency Hearing on November 30, 2011 which determined Dr. Berg's actions posed an immediate and significant danger to the public health, safety, and welfare.
Berg is accused of kidnapping and beating his girlfriend during a domestic altercation at his home in November.
According to the stipulation, the DOPL revoked Berg's licenses when police found a significant amount prescription painkillers in Berg's home during the kidnapping investigation. The DOPL document also said that witnesses claimed to see Dr. Berg in states of intoxication while on the job at his cosmetic surgery clinic prior to his arrest. The document also claimed that Berg had been "self-medicating."
Berg pleaded guilty to second degree felony kidnapping stemming from the 911 call made by his girlfriend who had allegedly been tied up in a closet.
Berg pleaded guilty to the second degree felony kidnapping charge which had previously been first degree offense.
Berg also pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and to possession of gun by a restricted person.
Berg was charged last month with kidnapping and assault, and court documents name his live-in girlfriend as the victim.
During the 911 call, Berg's girlfriend remained silent even after repeated attempts by the dispatcher to get her to respond.
The 911 recording revealed other voices, along with prolonged screaming and crying from someone in the background. Investigators later learned that the woman was allegedly being abused.
Dispatchers traced the phone call to an address in Orem.
A friend of the alleged victim later told ABC 4 that Dr. Berg was hitting the woman, grabbing her hair and dragging her through the house.
The friend told ABC 4 that Berg taped the victim's hands together and taped her to a bedroom dresser.
Police say Berg eventually placed the victim in a closet, where she made the silent phone call. Some sounds from the 911 call to sound like duct tape being unwrapped.
Officers eventually made a forced entry into Dr. Berg's home and went from room to room looking for the source of the screams.
Police found Berg hovering over a woman taped up in a closet.
Berg was arrested and the girlfriend was treated at a local hospital.
Sentencing was scheduled for February 27th at 2:00 p.m.
