‘Contributed to the epidemic.’ Kentucky doctor sentenced in illegal prescribing case
A Northern Kentucky doctor convicted of illegally prescribing painkillers and other drugs has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
Dr. David Suetholz, 74, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Covington. U.S, District Judge David L. Bunning also fined Suetholz $5,000.
Kent Wicker, an attorney for Suetholz, said he will appeal his conviction.
Suetholz, a general practitioner who had an office in Covington early in his career and later in Fort Mitchell, also served as the coroner of Kenton County from June 1991 to June 2021, according to court records.
He was charged in connection with writing prescriptions to patients for drugs that included oxycodone, an opioid painkiller, and Xanax and Valium.
Federal authorities charged Suetholz wrote the prescriptions outside the scope of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.
A jury convicted him on 12 of the 25 counts against him.
Attorneys for Suetholz asked Bunning to impose a non-custodial sentence — such as home detention — along with community service and a $25,000 fine.
Defense attorneys and supporters who wrote letters to Bunning described Suetholz as a dedicated, compassionate doctor motivated only to serve patients, including disadvantaged people and people struggling with drug problems.
The accusations against Suetholz weren’t like those in a typical illegal prescribing case, with a doctor allegedly abusing his position to make money, defense attorneys argued.
Rather, the government’s case was about a man “who allegedly bucked protocols because he thought he knew what was best for his patients,” defense attorneys said.
“Guided by his faith, his devotion to his family and his community, Dr. Suetholz worked hard his whole life to make the lives of his patients better,” defense attorneys wrote.
Prosecutors, however, argued that despite being sanctioned earlier by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure over prescribing, Suetholz ignored red flags about drug abuse by his patients, ignored drug tests and provided unnecessary prescriptions to people with histories of addiction.
“Suetholz continued to prescribe in a manner that contributed to the epidemic of prescription drug abuse that has ravaged communities” in Kentucky and the nation, prosecutors said.
Drugs that Suetholz prescribed for one patient contributed to her overdose death, according to prosecutors, who sought a sentence of five years and three months for Suetholz.
Before sentencing, attorneys for Suetholz asked Bunning to overturn the conviction against him or grant him a new trial.
Their arguments included that Bunning allowed jurors to hear some evidence that shouldn’t have been admitted and that the government failed to adequately prove Suetholz intended to write prescriptions illegally.
Bunning denied the motion.
This story was originally published June 30, 2023 at 7:39 AM.
