Family-medicine doctor charged with professional incompetence

A family-medicine physician from West Des Moines has been charged by the state with professional incompetence.

Iowa Board of Medicine records indicate Dr. Dale M. Grunewald, 80, has been charged with professional incompetence related to inappropriate pain management.

The board has not disclosed the underlying allegations that form the basis of the charge, and there’s no indication when, where or how the alleged conduct took place.

However, board records indicate the action is tied to four separate complaints or cases investigated by the board. Those cases were initiated in 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020.

A two-day hearing on the charge is scheduled for June 2026 – which is eight months after Grunewald’s current license is scheduled to expire.

Grunewald was issued an Iowa medical license in September 1974.

State records indicate that in 1992, Grunewald was convicted of three felony counts of income tax evasion, was fined $20,000, ordered to complete 200 hours of community service, and was sentenced to four months in jail followed by four months of home confinement.

The board, then known as the Iowa Board of Medical Examiners, fined Grunewald $3,000 as a result of the conviction and placed his license on indefinite probation. The board also restricted Grunewald’s practice, for 60 days, to working in a free clinic.

In March 1994, the board restored Grunewald’s license to full privileges, free and clear of any restrictions.

Emergency room doctor charged with substance abuse

Dr. Chad W. Becker, an emergency medicine physician who practices in the Des Moines area, has been charged by the Iowa Board of Medicine with substance abuse and practicing in a manner that is harmful or detrimental to the public.

The alleged conduct that gave rise to the charges has not been disclosed by the board.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for January 2026. The case against Becker appears to be tied to an investigation the board launched in 2022.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.