INDIANAPOLIS – A former Gibson County physician is now the target of a licensing complaint filed by Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s office.
According to the complaint, Dr. Christoper May, a former physician at Gibson General Hospital, had an inappropriate sexual relationship with one of his patients and also wrote fraudulent prescriptions for her. The complaint against May was filed last week with the Indiana Medical Licensing Board and a hearing date has not yet been set.
According to the filing, May wrote at least eight prescriptions for narcotics over a six-month period for a patient, but under the guise of her mother’s name in order for insurance to cover the costs.
“The Respondent engaged in sexual contact with a patient and fraudulently wrote her prescriptions for narcotics despite a history of addiction,†said Gabrielle Owens, Deputy Director of the Attorney General’s Licensing Enforcement and Homeowner Protection. “This case underscores the efforts by the Attorney General’s office to ensure patients are protected while cutting down on the number of legal controlled substances that are being abused or otherwise diverted.”
Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation issued a consent order placing May’s Illinois medical license on suspension. According to the filing, the suspension was based on allegations that May was denied staff membership and clinical privileges from the Lawrence County Memorial Hospital in Illinois for inappropriately prescribing controlled substances to a patient.
On April 1, May pled guilty, as part of a plea agreement, to criminal offenses related to registration labeling and prescription forms, a Class D felony. May is currently serving a 36-month criminal probation sentence.
As part of the agreement, Gibson County Superior Court directed May to surrender his Indiana medical license to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board with instructions that he shall not attempt to reinstate his license for 36 months. Owens said that a license holder must petition and be granted permission by the board to surrender his or her license.
Arrested in June 2011, May was originally charged with nine counts of conspiracy to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and eight counts of conspiracy to commit insurance fraud. A Princeton-area pharmacist first notified local police of a suspicious prescription transaction and also followed up with the patient’s mother – who claimed she had not been a patient of May nor was she taking the medication May prescribed.
