A three-year local, state and federal investigation launched in connection with “a number” of overdose deaths has led authorities to seize records at Tennessee medical clinics in Franklin and Coffee counties, Franklin County Sheriff Tim Fuller said.
No arrests have been made, Fuller said, but search warrants were issued for records at clinics he says are owned and operated by Dr. Councill Courtland Rudolph. He operates clinics in Decherd in Franklin County and in Manchester in neighboring Coffee County.
Fuller said the searches were conducted by agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and local authorities in the counties where Rudolph’s clinics operate.
Fuller said authorities are scrutinizing prescriptions written by Rudolph over the last three years.
“The allegations are pretty simple; it’s over-prescribing,” Fuller said. “At some point a case will be presented to a federal grand jury.”