KANSAS CITY, Mo., Dec. 5 (UPI) -- A pharmacist who admitted diluting the drugs he mixed for cancer patients was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Ortie Smith imposed the maximum prison term after hearing from tearful relatives who accused druggist Robert Courtney of robbing them of precious days with their loved ones.
Courtney, 50, once seen as a pioneer in preparing premixed cancer treatments, pleaded guilty to 20 federal counts of adulterating, misbranding and tampering with medications. His actions are believed to have involved 98,000 prescriptions for as many as 4,200 patients since 1992.
Courtney's attorneys sought a minimum 17 1/2-year prison sentence but prosecutors filed a 26-page sentencing memo detailing why the maximum should be imposed, contending Courtney's actions led to at least one premature death.
When he changed his plea to guilty on Feb. 26, Courtney, the son of a retired Assemblies of God minister, said he had no "rational explanation" for his actions. He said he began diluting medications to pay more than $600,000 in taxes and a $330,000 pledge to his church.
The scheme came to light after a sales representative from Eli Lilly Co. noticed Research Medical Tower Pharmacy had ordered much less of the drug Gemzar than the billings to doctors indicated.
Courtney was among the first pharmacists to premix chemotherapy drugs for doctors because nurses were afraid to handle the cell-killing chemicals. The premixed dosages were delivered directly to doctors' offices.
More than $8 million of Courtney's assets were frozen when he was charged and stripped of his pharmacy licenses, forcing him to sell the two drug stores he owned in Kansas City and Merriam, Kan.
Hundreds of fraud and wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against him by cancer patients and their families. His attorney, Jean Paul Bradshaw, said Courtney plans to resolve those as well.
