Court Rules Against PA Psychiatrist Kenneth Stanko Who Was Sued for Allegedly Hooking Patient on Oxycodone

Pittsburgh, PA – Psychiatrist Kenneth Stanko was sued in January by a pateint whom claims Stanko prescribed oxycodone, Opana, and Zolpiedem after a brief evaluation and no counseling to "make him feel better.” Stanko discontinued the Opana and Zolpiedem prescriptions and increased the oxycodone, prescribing about 3,000 tablets just in that year, it is alleged.  

 

After it became difficult for the patient to fill his prescription at multiple pharmacies due to his excess of prescriptions, Stanko told DiCarlo to fill them at particular Pharmacies, according to the complaint. The patient was allowed to purchase the drug in excess of his prescription with cash, according to the complaint.

 

It's the latest legal trouble for Stanko, who pleaded guilty on Jan. 20, 2017, to two felony counts of possession and distribution of oxycodone and health insurance fraud, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. He was sentenced to a year in federal prison.

 

Erianne Leatherman, "Court rules against troubled Pittsburgh psychiatrist sued for allegedly hooking patient on oxycodone," Penn Record, 14 Aug 2018, https://pennrecord.com/stories/511529132-court-rules-against-troubled-pittsburgh-psychiatrist-sued-for-allegedly-hooking-patient-on-oxycodone