Lynchburg, Virginia — A 73-year-old Staunton physician used his medical license as a cover to deal drugs to patients he was sleeping with, federal prosecutors revealed today. Stanley Elmer Heatwole, formerly of Carilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital Emergency Department in Lexington, pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of controlled substances, admitting he prescribed hydrocodone for years outside the bounds of medical ethics and the law.
Heatwole waived indictment and entered his guilty plea to a federal information filed in the Western District of Virginia. According to court documents, from 2009 to 2014, he wrote repeated prescriptions for hydrocodone to a female patient with whom he maintained an intimate sexual relationship. These prescriptions were not medically justified and fell far outside the scope of professional medical practice.
“This defendant used his position as a physician to write prescriptions for narcotics to persons he knew to have drug addictions as part of his inappropriate sexual relationships with his patients,” said United States Attorney John P. Fishwick, Jr. “This defendant’s prescriptions issued outside of his professional practice is drug dealing by an individual who believed the rules didn’t apply to him. As today’s conviction clearly shows, the rules apply to everyone equally.”
Heatwole’s medical license was suspended in 2014 amid mounting scrutiny over his prescribing habits and personal conduct. Federal investigators say the case exemplifies how trusted medical professionals can exploit their authority to feed personal vices while endangering public health. The DEA has increasingly targeted so-called ‘pill mill’ doctors who blur the line between treatment and trafficking.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad, working in tandem with the Virginia State Police. The probe unearthed a pattern of inappropriate patient interactions and medically unjustified prescriptions that stretched over half a decade. Authorities say Heatwole’s actions endangered lives and undermined the integrity of the medical profession.
Assistant United States Attorney Jennie L. M. Waering is prosecuting the case. Heatwole now faces up to 20 years in federal prison when sentenced, a steep fall for a man once entrusted with saving lives in emergency rooms across western Virginia.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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