INDIANAPOLIS -- A former IU Health doctor accused of reckless homicide for overprescribing pain pills will go to trial after all following a ruling by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Dr. John K. Sturman was charged in August with three counts of reckless homicide and 16 counts of issuing invalid prescription drugs by a practitioner following complaints by two former patients and an addictions counselor. A subsequent investigation revealed at least three patients had died from overdosing within 30 days of filling a prescription from Sturman.
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Investigators also allege Sturman showed a pattern of prescribing narcotics for addition, rather than pain management. Specifically, they allege he wrote a large number of prescriptions for a medication combination known as "the holy trinity" – an opioid (ex. Oxycodone), a benzodiazepine (ex. Valium, Xanax) and carisoprodol, which is sold under the brand name Soma.
In December, a Marion County court dismissed the three counts of reckless homicide against Sturman. Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry sought an appeal of that decision, which was granted last week by the Indiana Court of Appeals.
"Overprescribing pain medication is not only unethical, but reckless,” Curry said in a statement when Sturman was first charged. "Addiction to pain medication is a widespread problem, and physicians and medical personnel who enable and endanger addicted patients should be held accountable."
At the time he was charged, Sturman was no longer an IU Health employee. His LinkedIn profile instead listed him as employed as the chief of pain management for the Illiana VA Health Care System.
