BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Alabama’s medical licensing board has sent a cease-and-desist letter to a Texas-based doctor after they said he practiced medicine in the state without a license, including prescribing Alabama patients ivermectin and various controlled substances.

The letter, dated Sept. 14 and released by the Alabama State Board of Medical Examiners this week, said an investigation by the board showed that Dr. Frank Byoung Lee had continued practicing telemedicine in Alabama after his temporary, emergency license expired in November 2020.

Alabama had issued Lee a temporary license to allow him to assist in treating patients who were suffering from or affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. But the temporary license’s expiration nearly two years ago, the board said, should have ended Lee’s treatment of patients in the state.

“You have never obtained another Alabama medical license,” the board’s letter to Lee said.

A board investigator contacted the doctor in January, the letter said, and informed him that he was not licensed to practice in Alabama. Even after that communication, the board said, Lee continued to practice in the state, as evidenced by his prescription of ivermectin and controlled substances to Alabama patients.

“Despite knowing that you are not licensed to practice medicine in Alabama, you have continued to practice medicine unlawfully, having written a prescription for an Alabama patient as recently as September 7, 2022,” the board wrote.

In Alabama, practicing medicine without a license is a Class C felony, punishable between one and 10 years in prison.

“Accordingly, it is the order of the Board that you immediately cease and desist from the unauthorized practice of medicine,” the board’s letter concluded. “If you do not immediately comply with this demand, the Board will engage all lawful means necessary to compel your compliance with Alabama law.

Lee is one of three service providers at Virtual Doctors Online, a self-described “virtual concierge medical service on the internet,” according to its website, which says Lee is an emergency medicine specialist based out of Allen, Texas.

Lee’s profile on the site lists services offered by the physician, including prescriptions of Viagara or Cialis, refills for anxiety and depression medications, weight loss treatment, as well as “doctor’s notes, medical certificates, work note excuses, travel authorization letters, and plastic surgery medical clearance.”

In WebMD reviews of Lee, multiple patients praised the ease with which they obtained drugs from the doctor, including ivermectin. One reviewer suggested the medication “got me through the virus.”

“Excellent help for getting me ivermectin,” the review said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not authorized or approved ivermectin for use in preventing or treating COVID-19 in humans or animals, according to the agency.

Still, its use by humans led to a public warning by the Centers for Disease Control and an increase in calls to poison control centers, including here in Alabama.

CBS 42 reached out to Lee and Virtual Doctors Online but had not yet heard back as of Monday morning.