Psychiatrist charged with felony murder in 3 patients' overdose deaths
A Georgia psychiatrist already facing a criminal case following the death of one patient was accused in a Wednesday indictment of killing a total of three patients, among other charges.
The 62-count indictment of Dr. Narendra Nagareddy includes three felony murder counts concerning patients who allegedly died of overdoses after he prescribed them pain medication, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Clayton News-Daily.
The other 59 counts in the indictment accuse Nagareddy of writing prescriptions outside the bounds of customary medical practice without a legitimate medical purpose, and failing to sign and date some prescriptions.
The unusual prosecution may have been sparked when a probation officer noticed that three of her supervisees had died while under the physician’s care. That probation officer reported Nagareddy to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Authorities say 36 of his patients have died while Nagareddy was prescribing them medication and 12 of the deaths have been attributed to overdoses, the AJC reports.
Attorney Steve Frey represents Nagareddy. “Unequivocally, we will be ready to defend this matter,” the attorney told the newspaper. “He is innocent of all of these charges.”
The Washington Post (reg. req.) also has a story.
Related coverage:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “How drug warnings slipped by in the ‘Dr. Death’ case”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Doctor gets 30 years to life in landmark prosecution over patient OD deaths”
ABAJournal.com: “Rising use of heroin, prescription opiates sparks call for noncriminal approach to addiction issues”
