KY doctor awarded $14 million after losing license in federal drug case
PERRY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - A Kentucky doctor, accused of writing improper drug prescriptions, was awarded $14 million in a case where he argued pharmacy companies wrongly assigned drug orders to him.
James Dustin Chaney opened the Clarion Health and Wellness in Hazard in 2010, but he was charged in 2014 with illegally prescribing drugs. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.
Last week, a Perry County jury ruled in favor of Chaney in his lawsuit against CVS and Rite Aid of Kentucky.
Within the lawsuit, jurors found the companies “knowingly or recklessly” reported that Chaney wrote these prescriptions when he actually did not.
Jurors ruled this made it look like Chaney had written countless prescriptions for opioid painkillers.
Chaney was awarded $10 million for past, present and future mental anguish; $2.5 million for lost wages; and $1.5 million for impairment to his ability to earn money, as said within the verdict form.
CVS will have to pay 53 percent of the award, while Rite Aid pays 45 percent.
The jury attributed one percent to R/X Discount Pharmacy and one percent to Chaney for not doing enough to monitor prescribing data about himself.
An attorney representing Rite Aid did not comment on whether the company will appeal the judgment. A spokesperson for CVS said the company respectfully disagrees with the verdict and is reviewing options.
Chaney said he plans to ask the state to reinstate his license.
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