Kendall Hansen, MD, 66 y/o pain management specialist in Crestview Hills, KY, was indicted Nov 18, 2021.   But in the course of time since the raid on his office Feb 9, 2019, he was smart. He hired Chapman Law Group.This is something all medical professionals need to understand. Don’t waste your money with standard white collar lawyers in your area.  Reach out to Ron Chapman, II from the word go. This is a case to show you why.  In general, doctors who have been attacked visit Doctorsofcourage.org, but do not consult us. So they get snookered into hiring a standard white collar lawyer who has no idea how to approach the federal attack for prescribing opioids.  They pay a lot of money to these lawyers who do nothing to prepare the case, and then pressure the professional to take a plea. What we see is that, after losing all their money to these worthless lawyers, they then come to us asking for help. But by then it is too late. If they went straight to the Chapman Law Group, like Dr. Hansen did, then the work is done in preparation, and they are ready to fight whenever the government decides to proceed.

Check it out

When Dr. Hansen’s office was raided Feb 6, 2019, He was reported to say

“We welcome the scrutiny, we do a good job.”

As most practicing physicians do, he believed that once investigators got a look at his records, they’d realize he hadn’t done anything wrong. But he was smart enough to get a lawyer so that when the government struck, he was ready. It generally takes 2-3 years from the raid to the indictment, as in this case. Most doctors think, if the indictment doesn’t happen right away, that they are safe.  But that is not the case.

As part of the DOJ investigation of doctors, you are probably aware of the Narx score algorithm used against doctors and patients. Dr. Hansen was identified through the PDMP as a high prescriber of controlled substances. Obviously—he’s a pain management doctor. When the DOJ approached local pharmacies in their investigation, CVS decided to not fill any of Dr. Hansen’s prescriptions. Ron Chapman immediately took CVS to trial and won.

Then on November 18, 2021, indictments were filed against Kendall Hansen, MD and his associate, Michael Fletcher, MD in two separate cases. The indictment charges Dr. Hansen with one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substance and two counts of distribution of a controlled substance. He is accused of getting other doctors to prescribe him controlled substances. They also accuse him of writing a prescription to his employees and instructing them to bring the pills back to him. The prescriptions were for 480 doses of tramadol in 2016 and 30 doses of phentermine in 2018.  Both tramadol and phentermine are schedule IV drugs which are defined as drugs with a low potential for abuse and low risk of dependence.

Five days later on Nov 23, the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure (KBML) restricted his license, prohibiting both doctors in the practice from prescribing controlled substances. Because they were already informed on the case, Chapman Law Group asked the KBML for a hearing to explain the number of patients relying on Dr. Hansen, but the board denied it, based on their rule that indictment meant automatic license withdrawal.

So Ron Chapman immediately took action by filing an appeal. On January 4, 2022, The Hon Audra Eckerle of the Jefferson Circuit Court, Div 7 ordered a temporary injunction against the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, telling the board it is time to change their restriction policy in these types of cases. She basically stated that the KBML applied an incorrect rule of law. That rule of law was that Dr. Hansen’s license could be suspended simply based on an indictment. Instead, the court states that the KBML must carry out its burden to establish that Dr. Hansen’s practice constitutes a danger to the health, welfare, and safety of his patients or the general public. So Dr. Hansen, due to the work of the Chapman Law Group, was again permitted to begin prescribing controlled substances at his Crestview Hills clinic, and that ruling should now apply to all cases that go before the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure. Following that decision, the medical board should set a date for a hearing to determine if Hansen can continue prescribing while his case is pending. The injunction by the judge allows him to prescribe until that hearing is over.

The Rest of the Story

The battle isn’t over.  While the KMBL matter was playing out, prosecutors attempted to utilize bond conditions to prevent Dr. Hansen from prescribing. At arraignment, Ron was successfully able to convince the judge that such a restriction should not be put in place because it would endanger the community and leave patients untreated. The judge agreed, refusing to advance the Government’s proposed restriction. So, the Government issued a superseding indictment with stale allegations and tried again. A hearing was recently held at which the judge took the matter under advisement but still has not restricted Dr. Hansen’s prescribing. 3000 patients in that clinic would be affected by any prescription restrictions and could go through withdrawal and end up seeking street drugs. It’s an interesting fact that the Cincinnati area, where Crestview Hills is located, is the nation’s No. 1 opioid overdose hot spot as of May, 2021 study by the University of Cincinnati.

So Dr. Kendall has the best lawyer for the job. We will keep informed on the status of this case