A Parkersburg dentist currently living in Belpre entered a guilty plea Thursday in U.S. District Court to one count of fraudulently obtaining hydrocodone.
Forty-four year old James E. Kirkpatrick faces up to four years in prison and a $250,000 dollar fine when he is sentenced in April.
An investigation by the DEA and the Washington County Major Crimes Task Force revealed that at least three patients received prescriptions for controlled substances from Dr. Kirkpatrick and then gave some or all of the drugs back to Kirkpatrick for his personal use.
Pharmacy records indicate the patients received multiple prescriptions for controlled substances from Dr. Kirkpatrick in 2006 and 2007.
Dr. Kirkpatrick began practicing in West Virginia after losing his Ohio dental license. He was convicted in November 2005 of malpractice after giving a lethal dose of an anesthetic to a two-year old boy.
He is free on bond pending sentencing and is prohibited from practicing dentistry or working in a dentist's office while on bond.
