A Sapulpa doctor with a history of excessive prescribing went before the Oklahoma Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision to determine whether he’d face discipline for two overdose deaths that may have resulted in his prescriptions, according to an article from NewsOK.com.
Dr. Roger Kinney, who has been operating in Sapulpa since at least the 1980s, was being investigated about prescriptions involving opioids and benzodiazepines that may have played a role in the deaths of two of his patients.
The drugs are used to treat anxiety and have been shown to slow breathing, increasing the chances that a patient taking them might overdose.
Kinney says it was a common practice to prescribe both drugs to patients before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began calling them out as high potential for misuse.
Assistant attorney general Joe Ashbaker called Kinney’s methods “slipshod at best, at worst, reckless.”
It seems to be a pattern that Kinney has shown before. In 1984 he was placed on probation for excessive prescribing of controlled substances and two years later was sent to prison for writing prescriptions in exchange for cocaine. He served 26 months, and had his medical license reinstated in 1989. Kinney says his behavior in the 1980s was a result of falling in with the wrong crowd, insisting that cocaine use was common back then.
While it appeared that history was repeating itself some decades later, Elizabeth Scott, who is Kinney’s attorney says it isn’t the case. She argued that the patients who overdosed may have died by suicide and that Kinney’s care and documentation were adequate. She reasoned that Kinney promised to comply with whatever demands the board were to make.
In the end, the board determined that Kinney could keep his medical license but would not be allowed to prescribe Schedule II drugs or Suboxone—also used for treating opioid addiction. He’ll also serve a 90-day suspension and take a course on medical records.
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Featured Image: Roger Kinney, right, consults with his legal team on Thursday. Photo by Meg Wingerter, The Oklahoman. Used with permission.
