Topeka, KS doctor guilty of unlawfully prescribing substances
February 23rd, 2010 - 1:39 am ICT by BNO NewsTOPEKA, KANSAS (BNO NEWS) – A Topeka, Kansas doctor pleaded guilty to unlawfully prescribing controlled substances, prosecutors said on Monday.
Physician Ethan E. Bickelhaupt, 58, issued prescription orders to individuals who were not legitimate patients. After receiving the prescription drugs in pharmacies, the patients gave the drugs to Bickelhaupt for his personal consumption.
Bickelhaupt would compensate his patients with cash or substances.
At the time, Bickelhaupt was working at VA Medical Center in Topeka, where he taught geriatric and acute psychiatry to psychiatry residents. During that time he also claimed to have a “tiny private practice” operating out of his home, even though there was no exam room there.
In an email, Bickelhaupt told a nurse in 2006 that getting “drunk” and “high” was his “only” interest and doing this with friends “socially, at no cost to them.”
Bickelhaupt is now facing a maximum maximum penalty of 24 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1.25 million on two different charges, unlawfully distributing and obtaining controlled substances.
- 19 Indians indicted for $60 mn medical fraud in US - Aug 03, 2011
- Kansas doctor tied to 68 deaths takes witness stand - Jun 16, 2010
- Two guilty on some counts in Anna Nicole Smith drug case - Oct 29, 2010
- Evidence piling up against MJ's dermatologist - Aug 28, 2009
- Salina, KS man sentenced for guns and drug trafficking - Mar 12, 2010
- Doctor And Wife Face Long Sentence For Over-Prescribing Painkillers - Jun 25, 2010
- Government to rope in chemists to fight TB (March 24 is World Tuberculosis Day) - Mar 24, 2012
- Indian American couple evade taxes, gave out drugs illegally - Aug 05, 2011
- Wake Forest, NC man pleads guilty to health care fraud - Mar 05, 2010
- Opioids now most prescribed class of medications in US - Apr 06, 2011
- Brazil restricts antibiotics in bid to stop superbugs - Oct 29, 2010
- Kansas Doctor and His Wife Convicted in 'Pill Mill' Conspiracy - Jun 25, 2010
- Prescriptions for painkillers stepping stone for drug addiction - Aug 21, 2010
- Warning over health risks of addictive painkillers - Sep 05, 2010
- Mood, anxiety disorders patients likely to abuse painkillers - Dec 14, 2011
Tags: 24 years, acute psychiatry, bno, controlled substances, federal prison, kansas doctor, maximum penalty, medical center, nurse, personal consumption, pharmacies, prescription drugs, prescription orders, private practice, prosecutors, psychiatry residents, topeka kansas, topeka ks