The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi)
Physician’s penalty not adequate, critics say
By Jimmie E. Gates
April 20, 2008
Psychiatrist no longer can prescribe addictive drugs, must submit to review
A Brandon psychiatrist who has been scrutinized over three decades for allegedly prescribing large quantities of addictive narcotics should not be allowed to continue practicing even with new restrictions, the mothers of two former patients say.
But Dr. Stanley Russell, responding to the women and anyone else calling for his license to be suspended or revoked, said last week, “They’re idiotic. The medical board has ruled. It’s over and done with. I’m working, and that’s about all I’m going to say.”
The head of the state Board of Medical Licensure defended the panel’s actions, saying he believes it has sufficiently protected the public regarding Russell.
The board found in its most recent investigation of Russell that he had again violated rules and regulations. It agreed, however, to restrict him from writing prescriptions for any narcotic or habit-forming drugs and to limit him to working at the Region 8 Mental Health Center in Brandon, where he had been a part-time staffer. The consent agreement also calls for his work to be reviewed and his care of patients evaluated.
During the March 27 hearing, attorney Stan Ingram, who prosecutes cases before the board, had recommended that Russell, 77, be suspended because of the doctor’s 30-year history with the board.
That history includes that Russell wrote a patient 87 different prescriptions for controlled substances, totaling 3,756 doses of narcotics, including the pain medication OxyContin, over 18 months, according to board findings. He wrote another patient about 80 prescriptions totaling about 3,534 doses in about 14 months, according to the records.
Russell’s case file also includes allegations he met patients at parking lots, coffee shops, fast-food restaurants and other places in Jackson allegedly to give them prescriptions for narcotic or addiction-forming drugs in exchange for cash.
“I’m in shock that this man still is practicing,” said Janice Berlin of Madison. “What can he counsel anyone on?”
Berlin said Russell knew her 25-year-old son was addicted but continued to prescribe him habit-forming drugs.
Former Ridgeland resident Jo Renfroe, who now lives on the Gulf Coast, alleges her 25-year-old daughter and mother of two died in January from taking a mixture of drugs Russell prescribed.
Renfroe is now caring for her 3-year-old grandchild. Another family member is caring for Renfroe’s 8-year-old granddaughter.
Each month for about the last year prior to her death, her daughter was prescribed a large quantity habit-forming drugs: Narco, Lortab, Xanax and Valium, Renfroe said.
Narco and Lortab are narcotic pain relievers. Xanax and Valium are anti-anxiety drugs, and both may be habit-forming.
Both Renfroe and Berlin said they contacted the licensure board about their concerns with Russell. Berlin was at last month’s hearing, waiting to testify against the doctor but didn’t get the opportunity after the consent agreement was entered into.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t get a chance to hear any of the evidence against him,” Berlin said.
Renfroe said no one had informed her of the hearing date.
H. Vann Craig, executive director of the licensure board, said Russell is severely restricted in that he can’t have a private practice and can’t prescribe any controlled substance.
Russell has had two offices in Jackson, the last on Galaxie Drive. This location was unregistered and unadvertised, according to the board.
Craig said there is a shortage of psychiatric care across the state. He said the consent order protects the public but allows Russell to continue serving the public by providing psychiatric care.
Russell has been practicing medicine since 1955 after graduating from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
With the agreement, Russell avoided a hearing in which the evidence against him would have been laid out.
Other findings collected by the board include:
* For one patient, he wrote approximately 35 prescriptions from July 2006 until July 2007, for controlled substances, including Xanax and OxyContin, totaling about 2,895 doses.
* For another patient, described as a 28-year-old female, he wrote in a six-month period 21 prescriptions totaling about 2,130 doses of controlled substances.
* On March 9, 2007, the board received a report from an employee of a north Jackson bookstore that Russell appeared to be meeting with adults in the cafe portion of the bookstore and issuing prescriptions. When employees of the store asked Russell his purpose for being on the store’s property, he responded it was OK because he was a doctor. Russell was instructed to leave the premises by store management, according to the investigative report.
Dr. Ike Eriator, director of pain management at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said the use of OxyContin for non-cancer patients is questionable. “OxyContin has a high potential for abuse,”Eriator said.