PHOENIX -- In an emergency action, the Arizona Medical Board on Tuesday suspended the license of an Anthem doctor after he was determined to be an "imminent threat to public safety."

The Board said it took the action after receiving word that a third liposuction patient had died under the care of Dr. Peter James Normann.

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Normann, who is Board-certified in internal medicine, has had an Arizona license since 2004 and heads the Normann Medical Group at Anthem.

According to the Board, two of Normann's patients suffered heart attacks during in-office liposuction procedures on Dec. 12, 2006, and April 25, 2007, and later died at John C. Lincoln hospital in Phoenix. The first was 33-year-old Ralph Gonzales and the second was a 41-year-old woman.

The Phoenix law office representing the Gonzales family told CBS 5 that Gonzales died during a second liposuction he underwent to fix problems from an earlier procedure.

The Board said an outside consultant brought in to review the two cases concluded that Normann was practicing below the standard of care.

Those two deaths prompted the Board to restrict Normann's practice. The Board said Normann signed an agreement May 3 prohibiting him from performing any office procedures or surgeries or using conscious sedation.

On Tuesday, the Board said it learned of a third patient who died July 3 under Normann's care after a liposuction procedure performed by an unlicensed homeopathic physician.

In an emergency teleconference Tuesday afternoon, the Board summarily suspended Normann's license.

CBS 5 learned that Normann's practice had been brought to the Board's attention even before the first liposuction death. Elizabeth Thuer said she worked for Normann for a short time but quit after she received a botched facial peel. Thuer said she filed a complaint with the Board last October and received a response saying the Board was looking into the matter.

CBS 5 tracked Normann down at his home Tuesday night but he declined to comment.

Normann's case will go before an administration law judge within the next 60 days. The hearing could result in his license being revoked.