I am not an attorney nor am I a licensed healthcare practitioner, so this is all My Opinion Only.
From the links posted above, it appears that since the charges are misdemeanors, they are first offenses and did not involve property damage or personal injury. My speculation is that she was stopped for erratic driving of some sort, and that resulted in sobriety testing and the charges.
MDs are held to a higher standard since impairment due to substance abuse could (obviously) have negative health care impacts. My speculation is that the DWAI charges were automatically reportable to the state medical licensing board. That IMO would have triggered a review process that would take into account many factors, including whether there is any evidence of an ongoing abuse issue; whether impairment affected patient care; what substances were involved (over-the-counter / prescription / illegal); etc.
My speculation is that Tamara entered a substance abuse (SA) program following the May 31 incident or following the Oct court appearance / license surrender — or planned to do so following the Dec. 1 hearing. Whatever the licensing board / professional conduct finding were, they did not rise to the level of revoking her license (no impact on healthcare). Surrendering her license means that she could reinstate it — but that is an onerous process that would almost always require successful completion of an SA program. I’m not sure whether the court appearance matters any more in terms of her medical license other than the personal effect it might have on her.
Here’s a link from a NY lawyer’s blog addressing the reinstatement of a medical license following a surrender for SA (I usually don’t like linking to marketing materials, but I found this useful):
Successful Reinstatement of a New York Physician's Medicial License after Substance Abuse Issues. - Walker Medical Law
Even after completing the expensive and lengthy process, there are likely IMO additional barriers to returning to practice, including being able to join an existing practice, malpractice insurance, etc. MOO.
If she is struggling with ongoing SA, I could see a scenario in which a personal slip-up would have a severe impact on her outlook on life. MOO. Even if that was not at all applicable, when one is at the beginning of a review process like this that will determine your ability to practice what you have devoted your entire professional life to doing — that’s a lot to carry and it may seem overwhelming.
Dr. Saukin is gifted and by all accounts loved by her patients. I nonetheless get the sense that she is a private person. There aren’t newspaper stories about her hitting the NYC social scene or attending glamorous events. The thought of personal issues becoming public might also be a heavy weight. Perhaps she was dreading the upcoming court appearance.
I agree, this is heartbreaking. If she is no longer walking this earth, that’s a terrible loss. I hope that she is still with us, gets the help she needs, and realizes that she is loved and respected regardless of her occupational status.