RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A Rapid City osteopath's license was suspended over allegations he wrongfully prescribed addictive drugs to patients, according to a disciplinary action posting on the South Dakota Health Department Web site.

The South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners on July 10 suspended the license of Jeffery Allen Buckau - a former Bowman, N.D., doctor - for prescribing drugs to patients in amounts that were not for legitimate medical purposes or in quantities that could endanger his patients.

Specifically, it said the suspension was "for his practice of prescribing intoxicants, narcotics, barbiturates or other habit-forming drugs to his patients in quantities and under circumstances making it apparent to the board that the prescription was not made for legitimate medicinal purposes, or prescribing in a manner or in amounts calculated in the opinion of the board to endanger the well-being of his patients or the public in general."

Margaret Hansen, the board's executive director, earlier said Buckau will have due process rights at a hearing that will determine whether his license will be canceled, suspended or revoked.

That hearing has not been scheduled.

Buckau, who has not commented publicly on the suspension, ran Mountainside Family Practice in Rapid City, which is now closed.

A voicemail greeting at the office initially indicated that Buckau intended to fight. But a more recent recording said the office is closed and patients looking for medical records should contact the state Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners.

Osteopathy emphasizes the relationship of the musculoskeletal system - bones, ligaments, cartilage, muscles and tendons - with other body systems.

The state board referred patients looking for treatment to the nearest community health center or another physician.

But Jackie Shaw, of Rapid City, one of Buckau's patients, said she has had a hard time finding someone who can treat her chronic pain caused by migraine headaches, inflamed disks in her back and lingering effects of a stroke.

Shaw said she supports Buckau and wants to testify on his behalf at his medical board hearing.

Buckau, who has been licensed as an osteopath in South Dakota since 2002, has been reprimanded before.

He was put on probation in North Dakota in 1999 for making false advertising claims and voluntarily surrendered his state license in July 2001.