State regulators have suspended for 90 days the license of a former central Iowa physician who allegedly admitted using cocaine daily before entering treatment.
According to the Iowa Board of Medicine, Dr. Chad Becker “routinely worked in the hospital of a major healthcare network” after acquiring his Iowa medical license. Some board records indicate Becker was first licensed to practice in Iowa in March 2009, while others give the date as March 2019.
Federal records indicate that while Becker worked in Iowa, he practiced at UnityPoint Health’s Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.
The board alleges Becker has admitted routinely consuming an excessive amount of drugs and/or alcohol by at least 2022, the same year the board referred him to the Iowa Physician Health Program for confidential treatment. According to the board, Becker ultimately chose not to comply with the program’s requirements and so the issue of his substance abuse was referred back to the board in November 2022.
Twenty-nine months later, in March 2025, the board publicly charged Becker with two counts of misconduct — substance abuse and committing a practice harmful or detrimental to the public. The board alleged Becker’s substance abuse had created a risk of harm to the public and that it did, in fact, create the “actual harm of providing care while impaired.”
Becker then entered rehabilitation, according to the board, and began working as a physician in California. It was during his treatment there, the board alleges, that Becker acknowledged he had been using cocaine daily, along with other substances.
At a recent hearing on his disciplinary charges, the state presented evidence that Becker admitted to hallucinating while at work and to needing fluids prior to work shifts. Becker countered that using fluids to minimize his hangovers “just showed he was not impaired while working,” according to the board’s summary of the hearing evidence.
In considering how to resolve the case against Becker, the board agreed to accept that there was “no evidence in the record Dr. Becker ever harmed a patient due to any impairment.”
Becker argued the board should impose no sanctions against him since he has now received the help he needs with his substance abuse, and that his recovery means the state no longer has the authority to sanction him.
The board rejected that claim, stating “there is no exception to discipline for doctors who manage to sober up before a hearing or otherwise leave the state and let their licenses expire.”
The board recently concluded a license suspension of 90 days is warranted, as is an $8,000 civil penalty. The license suspension has no practical effect since Becker’s Iowa license expired last fall, although the board noted in its decision that it retains the authority to suspend a license even after it is expired.
The board indicated Becker can apply for reinstatement if his Iowa license once the 90-day suspension has lapsed.
