Doctor to stand trial for homicide charges in overprescribing case

An Indianapolis doctor will stand trial for three counts of reckless homicide following a unanimous decision by the Indiana Court of Appeals to reverse the dismissal of his charges, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said Tuesday.

John K. Sturman, 69, who previously operated a clinic at Indiana University Hospital, was accused of over-prescribing pain medication, causing patient deaths.

Sturman was charged in August 2015 with three counts of reckless homicide and 16 counts of issuing invalid prescription drugs by a practitioner. In December, the Marion County trial court dismissed the three reckless homicide charges, which Curry appealed.

The Indiana Court of Appeals reinstated all of Sturman's reckless homicide charges, and 15 of the 16 invalid prescription charges remain. One was dismissed.

"We are pleased that we will now be able to move forward with the most serious charges,” Curry said in a statement.

A probable cause affidavit filed in the case alleges Sturman improperly prescribed pain medication to more than a dozen patients, causing death in some from the large amounts of powerful opiates.

Doctor faces homicide charges for prescribing pain meds

Authorities began investigating Sturman in 2012 after the attorney general's office received complaints about the doctor.

Investigators reviewed medical records and autopsy reports for patients of Sturman's at his clinic at Indiana University Hospital from 2008 to 2012.

The doctor lost his medical privileges there in 2012 after he failed to complete medical charts for all patient visits, the affidavit says.

The review of the doctor's prescribing practices revealed that he frequently prescribed inappropriate combinations, such as the "holy trinity," which is a street term for simultaneous use of opiates, soma and benzodiazepine, the affidavit alleges.

Autopsies of some of Sturman's deceased patients show fatal combinations of prescription drugs that are traced back to the doctor, the document says.

Among patients of Sturman's who died are:

• A 42-year-old woman who tested positive for four to 14 times the normal medicinal amount of fentanyl after her daughter found her lying motionless in bed.
• A woman with documented depression and a past of child abuse. Prosecutors allege Sturman ignored her mental health problems and improperly prescribed opiates when she showed signs of opioid and benzo abuse.
• A man with a past of significant substance abuse and alcoholism. "Dr. Sturman continues to prescribe methadone, Dilaudid and Valium without a legitimate medical purpose," the affidavit alleges, quoting the autopsy report.

“Prescription drug abuse is an epidemic in our society and we appreciate all of Prosecutor Curry’s office’s efforts to investigate overprescribing and hold violators accountable," said Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller. "In appeals of criminal cases, my office represents the prosecution in the Court of Appeals; and thanks to that court’s decision, the important underlying case now can resume at the trial court level."

Sturman's case will continue in Marion County Criminal Court. A trial date has not yet been set.

IndyStar reporter Madeline Buckley contributed to this story. 

Call IndyStar reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @michaeladams317.