Hilton Head area pediatrician charged with DUI. It wasn’t their first
This is a developing story. Information will be added as it becomes available.
A Beaufort County pediatrician and founder of Palmetto Pediatrics of the Lowcountry was taken into custody Friday for driving under the influence.
Dr. Lance Lowe was arrested by South Carolina Highway Patrol Friday night, booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center just after 9:30 p.m. and released the following afternoon, according to jail records. While his author page has since been removed from the medical practice’s website, his employment status was unknown at the time of publication.
Lowe was one of the drivers involved in a car collision Friday night near Highway 170 and Okatie Center Blvd., according to Trooper Nick Pye of the South Carolina Highway Patrol. He then refused to take breathalyzer test, Pye confirmed with the newspaper.
The accident took place less than two miles from the provider’s Okatie office located in the Legacy Medical Plaza off Highway 170. Their Hilton Head office is on Main Street.
Lowe was charged with driving under license suspension and for driving under the influence, and his cash bond was set at about $1,664, according to court records. The charge suggests his license was not suspended due to a DUI charge.
A history of DUIs
This was not the first time the pediatrician was charged with driving while under the influence in the Lowcountry.
On Dec. 13, 2014, Lowe was charged with a DUI, child endangerment and open containers of beer and liquor in Charleston, according to an order from the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and State Board of Medical Examiners.
A month later, Lowe’s license to practice medicine was temporarily suspended by the department. He was reinstated to practice medicine on May 7 of that year, according to Lowe’s public action history with the department. In 2016, he was fined $200 and was publicly reprimanded for the incident, according to department documents.
He was issued his original license to practice medicine in 2001, which is set to expire in mid-2027. As of Monday, Lowe’s license to practice medicine remained in good standing with the state’s department.
Lowe’s employment status was unknown at the time of initial publication. While he is still listed as a doctor on the practice’s website, his biography page is missing. The Wayback Machine, an online archive that captures previous versions of web pages somewhat randomly, suggests that his author page was active as recently as November.
The provider’s office told the newspaper they were working on a prepared statement Monday afternoon.
The newspaper attempted to contact Lowe through three local landline phone numbers attached with his name but were unsuccessful in reaching him.
The Island Packet does not publish the names of individuals who were charged with misdemeanor crimes unless the accused is a public figure or if revealing their name is a matter of public interest.
