A preliminary hearing has been set for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in the case of a doctor facing forgery and drug charges.
Fifty-year-old Dr. Charles Sutherland of rural Moberly is accused of two counts of felony forgery, three counts of felony distribution of a controlled substance in violation of registration requirements and two misdemeanor charges of deceptive business practice.
The preliminary hearing will focus upon the felony charges. The misdemeanor charges also will be dealt with on Oct. 6, but only for a trial setting.
The arrest came after an investigation of Sutherland’s Paris clinic by the Missouri Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
Authorities allege Sutherland illegally wrote 28 prescriptions for controlled substances from Sept. 10, 2008, to July 21, 2009.
The drugs included narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone, vicodin and codeine, anxiety drugs such as alprazolam, sedatives such as zolpidem and stimulants such as phentermine.
Sutherland also is accused of illegally writing a prescription for the non-controlled pain reliever Nubain.
In an earlier interview with the Courier-Post, Sutherland denied the charges and said he believes two former employees in his Paris office forged his name on the prescriptions, then sold or took the drugs themselves.
Records show Sutherland has previously been disciplined by medical authorities in Missouri and Illinois, and that his medical license was suspended in North Dakota.
A condition of his release on an $80,000 surety bond was that he not practice medicine. He also had to surrender his passport.
|
|
|
A preliminary hearing has been set for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in the case of a doctor facing forgery and drug charges.
Fifty-year-old Dr. Charles Sutherland of rural Moberly is accused of two counts of felony forgery, three counts of felony distribution of a controlled substance in violation of registration requirements and two misdemeanor charges of deceptive business practice.
The preliminary hearing will focus upon the felony charges. The misdemeanor charges also will be dealt with on Oct. 6, but only for a trial setting.
The arrest came after an investigation of Sutherland’s Paris clinic by the Missouri Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
Authorities allege Sutherland illegally wrote 28 prescriptions for controlled substances from Sept. 10, 2008, to July 21, 2009.
The drugs included narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone, vicodin and codeine, anxiety drugs such as alprazolam, sedatives such as zolpidem and stimulants such as phentermine.
Sutherland also is accused of illegally writing a prescription for the non-controlled pain reliever Nubain.
In an earlier interview with the Courier-Post, Sutherland denied the charges and said he believes two former employees in his Paris office forged his name on the prescriptions, then sold or took the drugs themselves.
Records show Sutherland has previously been disciplined by medical authorities in Missouri and Illinois, and that his medical license was suspended in North Dakota.
A condition of his release on an $80,000 surety bond was that he not practice medicine. He also had to surrender his passport.
