The Grant County state's attorney says he will not bring criminal charges against George Hsu of Elgin simply because the former medical doctor who was stripped of his license is co-owner of a clinic in town.

State's Attorney Jim Vukelic said there isn't evidence to convict Hsu, and he won't marshal the county's legal resources in a fruitless endeavor.

Vukelic said Hsu co-owns an Elgin clinic with his wife, Kathy, the daily business manager, and she hires outside physicians to see patients. Hsu helps his wife with some management decisions. He does not see patients, Vukelic said.

State law says it's a misdemeanor to practice medicine without a license, but there's no evidence Hsu is, Vukelic said.

Rod Auer, administrator of Marian Manor Nursing Home in Glen Ullin, and Duane Houdek, attorney and secretary for the State Board of Medical Examiners, asked Vukelic to look into the situation.

Vukelic turned the matter over to the Grant County Sheriff Department, which passed it on to the State Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Hsu has been in the headlines for more than four years, first during a prolonged battle that ended with the medical board revoking his medical license for inappropriate patient care and poor record keeping.

At that time, Hsu had hundreds of patients at clinics in both Glen Ullin and Elgin and was one of the main doctors at the Elgin hospital. Hsu said he was in trouble because he let especially critically ill elderly and their families choose between transfers and more tests at Bismarck hospitals, or foregoing the expense and remaining at their home hospital.

After losing his license, Hsu, 67, was involved in a long wrangle with the nursing home in Glen Ullin.

That dispute was over whether Hsu could administer a clinic in the nursing home. The North Dakota Supreme Court said Hsu could not, but limited its comment to the contract language between the nursing home and Hsu that said Hsu had to have a valid medical license to operate the clinic.

Vukelic said the Supreme Court decision did not reach to the issue of Hsu's stripped license.

"In short, the state Supreme Court left unsettled the issue you urge be adopted as settled law in Grant County," Vukelic said.

Vukelic said the Board of Medical Examiners could take its own action in the matter.

Houdek said it'll be up to the board to decide that. He noted a district court found in Hsu's dispute with the nursing home that clinics have to be owned by physicians or hospitals.

Hsu did not return two phone messages left at his Elgin home seeking comment for this story.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)