Manager at clinics used by Kentucky drug dealers sentenced to prison, fined
The manager of clinics that contributed to drug abuse in Kentucky has been sentenced to a year and one day in prison.
The sentence for Lori Barnett, 44, also included a $25,000 fine and an order to do 100 hours of community service after being released.
In addition, Barnett agreed not to contest the government’s seizure of $212,301 from an account she shared with Dr. Robert Taylor.
Taylor owned EHC Medical Offices PLLC, a Tennessee business that had offices in Jacksboro and Harriman.
EHC “held itself out” as a place that treated people with opioid use disorder by prescribing them buprenorphine, according to court records. But in reality, doctors there routinely saw more patients than they could treat within acceptable standards, according to court records.
Buprenorphine, often referred to by the trade name Suboxone, is used in drug treatment because it blocks symptoms of withdrawal from painkillers such as oxycodone, heroin and fentanyl, but people also can abuse it to get high, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Barnett’s plea agreement cited several examples of doctors at the clinics prescribing to large numbers of patients.
On March 24, 2015, for instance, one doctor at EHC wrote prescriptions to 84 people. On Dec. 31, 2015, Taylor and four other doctors wrote a total of 345 buprenorphine prescriptions, according to court documents.
Barnett, a registered nurse, acknowledged that she either knew or “deliberately ignored a high probability” that the way the clinics operated would result in improper prescribing.
Drug dealers and addicts from Kentucky used EHC as a source of supply because it was easy to get prescriptions. That allowed authorities to bring the charges in Kentucky.
Barnett pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances.
Taylor and seven other doctors who worked at EHC between 2013 and 2018 either pleaded guilty or were convicted by a jury.
U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove sentenced Taylor to two years and six months in prison and fined him $200,000.
Taylor also agreed to forfeit $13.8 million to the government.
Most of the other doctors are awaiting sentencing.
