What Happened

A federal jury convicted a contract anesthesiologist on 18 counts of obtaining controlled substances by deceit or subterfuge after he exploited his access at an Oklahoma City-area hospital to divert opioids and other controlled substances.

Testimony at trial showed he had diverted fentanyl, ketamine, hydromorphone (Dilaudid), and midazolam over a long period while working as a contract anesthesiologist at the hospital. On at least six occasions in early March 2022, he withdrew large quantities of controlled substances by claiming the drugs were needed for patient surgeries — surgeries he was not scheduled to perform and, in fact, did not perform. He then claimed to properly dispose of the drugs as waste, but instead kept them for his own purposes.

He was indicted in September 2023 and convicted at trial in July 2024. Each of the 18 counts carries a statutory maximum of four years in federal prison.

What Went Wrong

  • Controlled substances were released against a claimed surgery without verifying the anesthesiologist was actually scheduled for that procedure.
  • Self-reported "disposal" of unused controlled substances was accepted without independent witnessing or verification.
  • A pattern of large withdrawals tied to surgeries that never occurred was not caught by any reconciliation between the OR schedule and pharmacy records.

How It Could Have Been Prevented

  • Reconcile every controlled-substance withdrawal against the live surgical schedule before release, not after the fact.
  • Require witnessed, documented destruction of wasted controlled substances rather than accepting a provider's self-report.
  • Flag withdrawals tied to a claimed procedure that does not appear on the actual OR schedule for immediate review.
  • Audit contract and locum providers' controlled-substance activity as closely as employed staff, since they may have less day-to-day oversight.

Related Guidance

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