Sandy Springs Podiatrist Charged With Illegally Distributing Painkillers

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- A Sandy Springs podiatrist and her office manager were arraigned last week on charges they illegally doled out powerful painkillers and other drugs, the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia said.

Dr. Arnita Avery-Kelly and Brenda Lewis, the doctor's office manager, were indicted by a federal grand jury Dec. 21 for illegally distributing the drugs at locations "purporting to provide" care in Sandy Springs and Lithonia, the office said Thursday.

Dr. Avery-Kelly, 54, and Lewis, 55, were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judges Russell G. Vineyard and Catherine M. Salinas, respectively.

“Dr. Avery-Kelly was trusted to provide appropriate medical care to her patients,” said U. S. Attorney John Horn. “Instead, with the assistance of Ms. Lewis, she allegedly prescribed addictive opioids without any legitimate medical need. Addiction to powerful prescription opioids unfortunately continues to take a daily toll on many members of our community.”

Dr. Avery-Kelly and Lewis allegedly conspired to distribute controlled substances "outside the usual course of professional medical practice and for no legitimate medical purpose from November 2013 to December 2015," prosecutors charge.

The drugs allegedly supplied include oxycodone, hydromorphone, fentanyl, hydrocodone, phentermine, alprazolam, and promethazine with codeine.

Dr. Avery-Kelly is also charged with two counts of maintaining a podiatry clinic – first in Lithonia and later in Sandy Springs – for the purpose of illegally distributing drugs. The doctor is also charged with 57 counts of illegal drug distribution for specific prescriptions written to three separate customers.

Lewis is charged with aiding and abetting Avery-Kelly for eight of those prescriptions.

A nearly three-year federal investigation into the operation began after the Georgia Drug & Narcotics Agency visited Dr. Avery-Kelly in November 2013 and February 2014 to discuss high volume, high dosage prescriptions she had written for opioids.

The indictment alleges that despite the agency's warnings, Dr. Avery-Kelly, with the help of Lewis, continued to prescribe large volumes of controlled substances "without a legitimate medical need and outside the scope of a podiatric practice," Horn's office said.

For example, between December 2014 and August 2015, Dr. Avery-Kelly allegedly prescribed more than 116,500 oxycodone 30 mg pills, 41,800 hydromorphone 8 mg pills and 400 fentanyl patches.

In April 2016, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services executed a federal search warrant at Dr. Avery-Kelly’s office in Sandy Springs. At that time, Dr. Avery-Kelly voluntarily surrendered her DEA registration that allowed her to prescribe controlled substances.

This case is being investigated by the DEA and HHS, with help from the Georgia Drug & Narcotics Agency, Georgia State Patrol and the Sandy Springs Police Department.

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