More charges filed against Kentucky dentist accused in patient’s overdose death
A Kentucky dentist accused in the overdose death of a patient faces new charges of prescribing drugs illegally.
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Dr. Jay M. Sadrinia on May 25.
Sadrinia was initially charged in April 2022 in connection with writing prescriptions for pain drugs for a patient on four occasions. The prescriptions were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a practitioner acting in the usual course of professional practice, the indictment charged.
That indictment included a fifth charge that the patient, a 24-year-old woman identified as C.W., died as a result of using morphine sulfate which Sadrinia prescribed.
The new indictment includes those five charges but adds another 10 counts of illegally prescribing oxycodone or hydrocodone to three other people.
Sadrinia’s attorney, Robert Kennedy McBride, said that Sadrinia maintains his innocence and will plead not guilty to the new indictment.
Sadrinia, a dentist for more than 30 years, practiced reconstructive dental surgery at Tri-State Implant and Sedation Dentistry in Crescent Springs. He also owns and operates three other dental clinics in Northern Kentucky, according to a court document.
The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher M. Jason, said in one court document that a review of Sadrinia’s prescribing practices raised a number of red flags, such as writing prescriptions for excessive doses of opioid painkillers.
A dental expert told federal authorities Sadrinia’s prescribing was “shockingly outside” the usual course of professional practice for a dentist, the prosecutor said in the document.
One condition of Sadrinia’s pretrial release was to not prescribe controlled substances.
The charges against Sadrinia alleging improper prescribing have a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The charge of causing the death of a patient carries a minimum 20-year sentence for a conviction.
The Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force handled the investigation of Sadrinia.
