Hospital CEO, ER Director Illegally Dispensed Painkillers: Feds

GAINESVILLE, GA — Three people, including a former CEO of a north Georgia hospital and that facility's ER director, have been indicted on federal charges of illegally prescribing thousands of doses of prescription painkillers outside their normal course of practice, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said.

Dr. David Gowder, Emergency Room director at Union General Hospital, John Michael Gowder, CEO of the hospital, and Dr. James Heaton, a family practice clinic operator, will be arraigned Monday, April 9 on charges outlined in the federal indictment issued late last week.

“These defendants allegedly abused their positions as medical professionals to obtain illegitimately thousands of doses of prescription pain medications and now face serious federal charges,” said U.S. Attorney BJay Pak. “The Department of Justice is committed to fighting the opioid epidemic through the aggressive investigation and prosecution of licensed medical practitioners who abuse their positions of trust to engage in illegal conduct.”

According to the feds, between 2011 and 2015, Dr. Gowder and Mike Gowder allegedly worked to illegally obtain oxycodone, hydrocodone, and alprazolam. Dr. Gowder, prosecutors state, unlawfully obtained these prescriptions from patients he treated at the hospital, and illegally issued prescriptions for these drugs in the names of his and Mike Growder's family members, existing hospital patients and even fake patients.

The prescriptions were issued outside the usual course of professional practice and Mike Gowder and Dr. David Gowder "knew the drugs obtained with the prescriptions were not intended for the persons for whom the prescriptions were allegedly written," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The drugs obtained with the illegal prescriptions were not for any legitimate medical purpose.

Prosecutors say that Dr. David Gowder would direct Union General Hospital employees to fill the prescriptions at local pharmacies. He provided cash to the employees to pay for the drugs and would direct the employees to return the drugs they obtained to him. Mike Gowder used his position as the chief administrator at Union General Hospital to fire employees who tried to expose Dr. David Gowder’s illegal prescribing and obtaining of oxycodone, hydrocodone and alprazolam. He's also accused of using his position to intimidate other employees into concealing Dr. David Gowder’s unlawful acquisition of controlled substances.

Between April 2013 and April 2015, Dr. David Gowder is believed to have issued at least 19 illegal prescriptions for oxycodone pills, 21 illegal prescriptions for hydrocodone pills and five illegal prescriptions for alprazolam pills, including by forging the names of other physicians.

Dr. Heaton also illegally prescribed oxycodone and other controlled substances to Mike Gowder, Mike Gowder’s family members, and others, "knowing that the prescriptions were issued outside the usual course of professional practice and that the pills obtained with the prescriptions had no legitimate medical purpose," the federal prosecutor's office adds.

Dr. Heaton violated standards of medical practice by prescribing thousands of doses of oxycodone and other controlled substances to Mike Gowder, Mike Gowder’s family members, and others without adequately documenting the medical need for the prescriptions, U.S. Attorney Pak's office states.

Mike Gowder obtained oxycodone by fraud, subterfuge, and deception by filling the illegal prescriptions that Dr. Heaton issued for oxycodone at different pharmacies in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina in an effort to conceal the large numbers of oxycodone pills that Dr. Heaton was prescribing to him.

Between May 1, 2013, and June 16, 2015, Dr. Heaton wrote at least 74 illegal prescriptions for oxycodone to Mike Gowder. In addition to filling the prescriptions at pharmacies in Georgia, Mike Gowder often travelled to North Carolina and Tennessee to fill multiple prescriptions a month at pharmacies in those states. On multiple occasions, Dr. Heaton wrote two prescriptions for oxycodone for Mike Gowder on the same day. On other occasions, Mike Gowder would travel to North Carolina to fill one prescription and Tennessee to fill the second prescription to conceal the fact that multiple prescriptions were written to him on the same day.

Oxycodone and hydrocodone are powerful pain medications that are listed as controlled substances under federal law because each has a high potential for psychological and physical abuse and dependence. Oxycodone, which may be combined with acetaminophen, is sold generically under brand names including Percocet, Endocet, Oxycontin and Roxicodone. Hydrocodone is sold generically or under brand names including Lortab, Vicodin and Norco. Alprazolam, commonly prescribed to treat anxiety, is sold generically and under the brand name Xanax.

John Michael Gowder, 60, Dr. David Gowder, 61, and Dr. James Heaton, 61, all of Blairsville, are expected to be arraigned Monday at the federal courthouse in Gainesville.

This case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and members of the Union County (Georgia) Sheriff's Office, Cherokee County (North Carolina) Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency and Zell Miller Mountain Parkway Drug Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William L. McKinnon, Jr., and Laurel R. Boatright are prosecuting the case.

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