The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)

November 14, 2008 Friday
FINAL EDITION

Doctor sentenced to 6 years in prison;
Psychiatrist gave unnecessary prescriptions

BYLINE: KATIE MERLIE KATIE.MERLIE@INDYSTAR.COM

SECTION: LOCAL — METRO & STATE; Pg. 5

LENGTH: 330 words

A psychiatrist who admitted he supplied a prescription painkiller for no legitimate medical reason has been sentenced to six years in prison, federal authorities said.
Adolfo P. Hernandez, 67, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge David Hamilton.
Hernandez also must give up his Noblesville home, valued at more than $500,000, and other assets worth more than $100,000, said Timothy Morrison, an attorney for the Indianapolis-based U.S. District Court.
Hernandez had pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully dispensing the painkiller Percocet, generically known as oxycodone.
In March, Hernandez was arrested and charged with eight counts of unlawfully dispensing the painkiller after a 13-month investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Indianapolis Metropolitan Drug Task Force.
Undercover police called Hernandez on his home and cell phones to secure appointments at his Broad Ripple office in the 700 block of East 52nd Street, according to a statement from federal authorities. The officers paid $125 in exchange for prescriptions for oxycodone and Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug.
Hernandez conducted no medical exams and created no medical records during the visits, and no medical staff or employees were observed, said the statement from Morrison’s office. Records obtained through the investigation show that Hernandez wrote more than 8,400 prescriptions in the past year.
Hernandez admitted to writing prescriptions for oxycodone, the painkiller hydrocodone and Xanax when there was no legitimate medical need.
In addition to writing prescriptions to undercover police officers, Hernandez wrote prescriptions for people from Science Hill, Ky., and Somerset, Ky., Morrison said.
Hernandez’s Indiana medical license is suspended, Morrison said.
After his prison time, Hernandez must spend six months on supervised release, according to Barry D. Glickman, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted the case.