More doctors accused of illegally prescribing pain pills - The Cincinnati Enquirer

Federal authorities have now charged more than 100 doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals in multiple states, including Ohio and Kentucky, with peddling pain pills to make money.

"Doctors cannot be part of the problem," U.S. Attorney Kenneth Parker, of the Southern District of Ohio, told The Enquirer in an interview. "Someone should not come in seeking treatment for an illness and be turned into an addict for profit."

Indictments against 14 medical professionals were announced Wednesday at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Cincinnati. Defendants include several from Northern Kentucky as well as the Columbus area, but also include individuals from Alabama, Tennessee and West Virginia. Most of the accused were licensed medical professionals at the time they were charged.

Eight federal districts are involved in the immediate wave of indictments. The effort to combat the illegal distribution of prescription drugs is continuing. The recent indictments involve five million pain pills.

A special task force investigated tips from patients and their families, went undercover and used state prescription drug monitoring data to zero in on suspects. Key to the investigations is that the prescription drug monitoring programs of various states are compatible, Parker said.

The Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force, which was created to curb the opioid epidemic, announced an initial round of 60 defendants in 2019. At the time, the 2019 busts were the biggest crackdown of its kind against opioid prescriptions in U.S. history. Several defendants have been convicted and imprisoned and many cases remain pending.

"Today's opioid enforcement action highlights the Justice Department's latest efforts in responding to the nation's opioid epidemic," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., of the Justice Department's criminal division. "The Department of Justice will continue to work tirelessly with its partners to combat this epidemic and to seek to prevent the next tragic loss of life."

Overdose deaths from prescription painkillers have slowed in recent years, but U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show they made up 28% of deaths in 2019. 

Among the indictments announced is a case against a Northern Kentucky dentist, Dr. Jay Sadrinia, 59, of Villa Hills. He was charged in April with providing oxycodone and morphine sulfate to a patient who died. Federal authorities said that in August 2020, the dentist issued three opioid prescriptions to a 24-year-old patient in about a week. The patient died from a morphine overdose, allegedly from one of the prescriptions the dentist issued during those five days.

In February, a Hillsboro, Ohio dentist, Dr. William Dalton Thomas, was sentenced to five years in prison for prescribing oxycodone and other drugs for personal use. One of his dental assistants also was convicted.

Indictments of two Columbus area doctors were announced Wednesday. Dr. Charles Kistler, 77, of Upper Arlington, was charged with unlawful distribution of controlled substances while practicing at Midtowne Family Practice Clinic in Columbus. Dr. Eskender Getachew, 57, of Columbus, is accused of unlawfully prescribing several types of painkillers while he owned Polaris Wellness and Recovery Center.

The strike force also targets healthcare fraud, and some medical providers face charges of fraudulently charging taxpayer-funded programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare for unnecessary procedures and visits.

"At the very heart of everything is the integrity of the medical profession," Parker said. "You let the good medical folks do their jobs, you get the bad actors out."

Special Agent in Charge J. William Rivers of the FBI's Cincinnati Field Office urged people to call 800-225-5324 with tips about those illegally prescribing opioids. People who need addiction treatment can find providers in their ZIP code through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration's "find treatment" search online.

Cincinnati.com will update this story.