The problem of addiction to prescription pills is growing in Tennessee and the nation, experts say.Indicted doctors
Walter David Blankenship, P.A., 37, of Maryville, Tenn.;David Eric Brickhouse, P.A., 41, of Knoxville, Tenn.;Jamie Chiles Cordes, N.P., 36, of Maryville, Tenn.;Sherry Ann Fetzer, N.P., 41, of Knoxville, Tenn.;James Brian Joyner, M.D., 45, formerly of Maryville, Tenn., but now residing in Virginia;Buffy Rene Kirkland,N.P., 38, of Maryville, Tenn.;Don Robert Lewis, Jr., N.P., 54, of Maryville, Tenn.;Donna Jeanne Smith, N.P., 60, of Greenback, Tenn.; andDeborah Gayle Thomas, M.D., 62, of Dandridge, Tenn.
A group of nine doctors, nurses and their assistants each face terms of up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines for allegedly conspiring to distribute pain pills for which there was no legitimate medical purpose, as well as money laundering.
The group of onetime medical professionals operated out of Breakthrough Pain Therapy Center in Maryville, Tenn., which was owned and operated by Sandra and Randy Kinkaid, who along with family members Wendi Henry and Dustin Morgan, are now serving double-digit prison sentences, federal officials said.
A police raid in 2010 netted "significant quantities" of prescription narcotic pain pills, firearms and nearly $700,000 in cash, according to a news release.
The pills included oxycodone, morphine, oxymorphone, and alprazolam, all of which as classified as controlled substances, according to an investigation that included the Internal Revenue Service, Fifth Judicial District Drug Task Force, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
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