Muncie clinic raided; allegations of over-prescribing meds

MUNCIE - Allegations that a northern Indiana physician over-prescribed dangerous drugs to patients led to a raid of a northside Muncie pain clinic late Monday afternoon.

Local police joined state and federal investigators in the raid of the Centers for Pain Relief (also known as the Indiana Pain Center) at 3301 W. Fox Ridge Lane shortly before 4 p.m. Monday. Officers served a search warrant for records relating to the possible over-prescribing of medications as well as "possible forgery and fraud," according to the Indiana attorney general's office.

The target of the investigation is physician William Hedrick, who founded the chain of pain clinics in northern Indiana. Hedrick was at the Muncie clinic Monday and declined to talk to The Star Press as he left the building.

Authorities – including the Muncie Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Delaware County Deputy Prosecutor Zach Craig and Indiana medical licensing officials – served the search warrant and spent at least two hours going over files in the office at the corner of Fox Ridge Lane and Everett Road.

Since a few months before the Muncie office opened, the DEA said, eight Hedrick pain clinic patients had died of drug overdoses. Craig said he didn't know if any of the overdoses or fatal drug intoxications, which occurred from January 2013 to July 2014, were of patients from the Muncie clinic.

A search for obituaries under the names of any of those people who authorities say died of overdoses – the most recent in August – seemed to indicate the deaths were not of patients from the Muncie clinic.

A DEA agent told The Star Press as many as 150 patients were seen at the Muncie office every day and noted that the parking lot had been expanded since the office opened in July 2013.

The Star Press reported the office's opening last year and noted Hedrick's legal problems in northern Indiana, where authorities had investigated allegations of over-prescribing to patients.

A Centers for Pain Relief spokesman told The Star Press last year that the centers treat back pain, headaches, fibromyalgia and sciatic pain. But in March 2013, the Indiana Medical Licensing Board placed Hedrick, founder of the center's dozen locations, on probation for two years. The state said Hedrick was guilty of breaching the standard of care, failing to properly supervise employees and over-using steroid injections in the spine.

The Indiana attorney general had already alleged that Hedrick ignored evidence of addiction in his patients, who were often seen by physicians' assistants and nurse practitioners.

Although the state maintained that several of Hedrick's patients had died, Hedrick argued that the state hadn't conclusively linked their deaths to his pain treatment.

Delaware Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees issued a search warrant on Monday based on the affidavit of probable cause released to The Star Press by deputy prosecutor Craig.

The affidavit asked for a warrant to search for and seize records related to forgery, Medicaid fraud, insurance fraud and Corrupt Business Influence, specifically related to Hedrick.

The DEA alleged that previous actions against Hedrick limited the number of nurse practitioners and physicians assistants he could have working for him and required another physician to review Hedrick's patient files. The reviewing physician found Hedrick had prescribed "non-standard" doses of drugs and "inappropriate" prescribing, such as prescribing Lunesta and Ambien simultaneously.

The affidavit also noted that a Muncie pharmacist had raised concerns with authorities about Hedrick's prescribing practices. The pharmacist noted that most of Hedrick's patients received two types of opiates even though they were young and appeared to be in good health. The pharmacist's chain eventually refused to fill any of Hedrick's prescriptions. Other pharmacies followed suit.

Another pharmacist said he often was asked by customers to fill 100 prescriptions a day written in Hedrick's Muncie office. Former Hedrick employees also spoke to investigators about their concerns.

Investigators observing Hedrick's office for several days in August saw as many as 151 patients a day visiting the office.

Three nurse-practitioners prescribed more than 99,000 prescriptions at various pain clinic locations during a two-year period ending in July 2014.

The search warrant executed Monday sought patient files, prescription records, billing statements, email accounts and computers.

When officers arrived at Hedrick's office Monday afternoon, some patients were in the area, with most leaving quickly, sometimes after speaking to police. Hedrick left the office around 6:30 p.m., after most of his staff. DEA officers remained at the scene.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Twitter: @keithroysdon