Dr. Arnita Avery-Kelly Found Guilty in Pill Mill Scheme

ATLANTA — Dr. Arnita Avery-Kelly, a licensed podiatrist, has been convicted on 27 federal counts of distributing powerful opioids without legitimate medical purpose, operating a covert pill mill out of clinics in Sandy Springs and Lithonia, Georgia. After a five-day trial and two days of deliberation, a federal jury found her guilty of funneling hundreds of thousands of oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl patches to drug seekers and traffickers posing as patients.

U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak blasted Avery-Kelly’s betrayal of her medical oath, stating, “Avery-Kelly took an oath and was trusted to provide appropriate podiatric care to her patients. Instead, with the assistance of her office manager, she prescribed addictive opioids without any legitimate medical need, turning her prescription pad into an ATM. Her behavior fed into the continuing problem of addiction to powerful prescription opioids, which, unfortunately, continues to take a daily toll on many members of our community.”

Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division, emphasized the broader impact: “While in the midst of this country’s prescription opioid crisis, removing and ultimately eliminating physicians who recklessly overprescribe pharmaceutical pills (particularly prescribed opioids) for non-medical reasons, is an important part of DEA’s mission. This pill peddling Podiatrist distributed large quantities of opiate-based pills to scores of drug-seeking patients. She will no longer be able to commit such unlawful acts because of the hard work and dedication put forth by DEA, its federal, state and local law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

Derrick L. Jackson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General in Atlanta, added: “Dr. Avery-Kelly DPM abused her position as a podiatrist and recklessly prescribed very powerful and addictive opioids without any regard for the devastating effects they would have. HHS-OIG is committed to bringing to justice, those medical practitioners who would endanger our communities, taint their profession and abuse their ability to prescribe these drugs for profit.”

The federal investigation began in November 2013 when Georgia Drug & Narcotics Agency (GDNA) agents first confronted Avery-Kelly about her unusually high volume and dosage of opioid prescriptions. Warnings from GDNA and a subsequent inquiry by the Georgia Podiatry Board were ignored. Instead, Avery-Kelly, aided by office manager Brenda Lewis, escalated operations. After being suspended from Medicare claims, she intensified the distribution, prescribing over 275,000 30mg oxycodone pills, 104,000 8mg hydromorphone pills, and 300 fentanyl patches—each 30mg oxycodone pill fetching about $30 on the street.

In April 2016, DEA and HHS agents executed a federal search warrant at her Sandy Springs office, shutting down the clinics for good. Avery-Kelly voluntarily surrendered her DEA registration to prescribe controlled substances. The case, built through collaboration between GDNA, DEA, and HHS, culminated in a conviction that marks a significant strike against “pill mill” operations profiting from America’s opioid epidemic.