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reviewed the utilization records, he discovered the same problem that he'd seen in 1998; Courtney appeared to be selling Gemzar for $ 20 per vial less than what the drug was worth at the market, appearing to take a substantial loss. Combined with the lack of side effects, it led Ashley to suspect that
Courtney might be diluting the drugs. Ashley said years later that if he was right, Courtney was committing "a hideous crime".
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patients, as well as fertility treatments. He subsequently admitted that he had been diluting drugs for his entire career–as he put it, "whatever I could dilute, I did dilute". Over the course of his career, he earned over $ 19 million, a figure that FBI agent
Melissa Osborne called "blood money". On
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Hunter gave
Courtney several prescriptions for fictitious patients. Courtney mixed the drugs, initialed the infusion bags, and personally took them to Hunter's office. Federal agents had them tested at the FDA lab. The samples contained less than 30 percent of the prescribed dosage, and in some cases
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On August 13, 2001, federal agents raided
Research Medical Tower Pharmacy. They told Courtney that they were investigating a pharmacist, and needed to get information about who prepared the chemo infusions for Hunter's patients. Courtney acknowledged he'd prepared them–and thus unwittingly confessed
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Investigators believed that
Courtney took a base dose of chemotherapy drugs and split it between three prescriptions, then sold them to oncologists for the same price as a full dose. He took advantage of the fact that oncologists are usually concerned mainly with chemotherapy's effects on the body,
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initially didn't believe that a pharmacist would do something so egregious; pharmacists have long been among the most trusted professionals in the country and the world. They initially hoped there was an innocent explanation. However, when Hunter showed them the test results, they realized that she
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in
Courtney's building, noticed that several of Hunter's patients weren't experiencing the debilitating side effects that are normally the case with chemotherapy regimens. They voiced their concerns to Ashley, who wondered if Hunter's patients were actually getting the full prescribed dose. When he
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Many patients and survivors wanted him charged with murder, as did federal investigators. While the FBI and FDA believed he was essentially a serial killer, federal prosecutors believed a murder charge would be hard to prove, since many patients were suffering from late-stage cancer. Additionally,
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Faced with the mounting evidence, Courtney gave investigators a list of three medications that he diluted, and a list of 34 affected patients. He claimed to have only started diluting drugs a few months ago, a claim no one believed. He openly admitted he did it to pay off a $ 1 million donation to
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in order to get probable cause for an arrest. Prosecutors believed that since there were other pharmacists in the building, they needed to tie any diluted drugs directly to
Courtney, and show that he was the only one who was diluting drugs. With this in mind, investigators persuaded Hunter to help
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Hunter submitted seven additional samples for testing by the FDA's forensic chemistry lab. Tests on those samples revealed that they only contained a fraction of the prescribed dosage–as little as 15 percent, and at most 39 percent. They immediately knew that they had to move quickly. While health
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Courtney also was named as a defendant in approximately 300 suits for fraud and wrongful death. In one case a jury awarded the plaintiff, Georgia Hayes, a total of $ 2.2 billion in damages. Although Hayes knew she would likely never see that money because his assets had been frozen, she wanted to
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According to law enforcement estimates, as well as his own confession, from 1992 to 2001 Courtney diluted 98,000 prescriptions from 400 doctors, which were given to 4,200 patients. Courtney admitted to diluting 72 different kinds of drugs. Besides chemotherapy treatments, he admitted diluting
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Hunter also noticed that many of her patients were only suffering mild side effects, and their condition didn't seem to be improving. Hunter had medication that had been supplied by
Courtney tested. The results showed that the sample contained less than one-third of the drug prescribed. Upon
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On August 15, Courtney surrendered to authorities and was charged with one count of adulterating and misbranding drugs. Investigators reported that before turning himself in, Courtney gave $ 80,000 in cash, and more than 100 doses of
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In 1986, Courtney became the owner of
Research Medical Tower Pharmacy in Kansas City, where he had worked for some time. He primarily mixed intravenous drugs. Before his arrest, Courtney served as a deacon at Northland Cathedral, an
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not the amount of the dose. While he was supposed to prepare infusions with $ 3,000 worth of chemotherapy drugs, the solutions he prepared were equivalent to only $ 700, turning a significant profit.
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drugs, he pleaded guilty to intentionally diluting 98,000 prescriptions involving multiple types of drugs, which were given to 4,200 patients, and was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
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drugs Taxol and Gemzar. He also acknowledged that he and his corporation, Courtney
Pharmacy Inc., had weakened drugs, conspired to traffic in stolen drugs and caused the filing of false
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In spring 2024, families of victims received a notice that Courtney would be released to a Community Corrections Center, or halfway house, in Springfield, Missouri on June 20, 2024.
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care fraud cases normally take years to build, the investigators knew they didn't have that long. They spared no expense to stop Courtney, considering it a matter of public safety.
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turned the request down on September 1, 2020, saying that Courtney's crimes were "vastly different" than was normally the case for defendants seeking compassionate release.
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the Northland Cathedral building fund. On August 23, 2001, Courtney was indicted on 20 counts of tampering with consumer products and adulterating and misbranding drugs.
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The news of Courtney's arrest sent the Kansas City area into a panic. The FBI urged anyone who had ever received chemotherapy infusions from Courtney to come forward.
370:. In his request for early release, Courtney cited numerous health issues, such as a stroke and hypertension. Amid a community and bipartisan outcry, federal judge
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Facing the prospect of life in prison if convicted at trial, on February 20, 2002, Courtney pleaded guilty to 20 federal counts of tampering and adulterating the
187:. In 1994 his third wife, Laura Courtney, gave birth to twins. In August 2001, the same month he was arrested, Courtney held total assets worth $ 18.7 million.
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oncology experts told the FBI that there was no way to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the diluted chemotherapy directly contributed to patients dying.
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In 1992, he and his first wife divorced. Courtney retained custody of their two daughters. His second marriage lasted four or five days and was later
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contained no detectable chemotherapy at all. Agents believed that giving patients infusions with no active drugs was no different than giving them
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and using them to fill prescriptions at his pharmacy. In time he began diluting prescriptions to increase profits. Both practices were illegal.
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were named in several of the civil suits. Eli Lilly ultimately settled the suits for $ 48 million. Bristol Myers-Squibb paid $ 24 million.
214:. Eli Lilly initiated an internal investigation but found no evidence of illegality and closed the investigation without further action.
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to diluting drugs. On August 14, federal agents told Courtney that he was the target of the investigation, and shut his pharmacy down.
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claims. Prosecutors sought a plea deal because they believed it was the only way to get to the bottom of his scheme.
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Even with damning evidence that Courtney was diluting drugs, federal prosecutors asked the FBI and FDA to establish a
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sales representative Darryl Ashley noticed Courtney was selling three times the amount that he'd bought of the
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entitled "Deadly Rx For Greed", recounted Courtney's crimes, trial and conviction. In 2020, an episode of
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receiving the test results back, Hunter immediately cut ties with Courtney and notified the
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828:"Families of Robert Courtney's victims learn ex-pharmacist to be moved to halfway house"
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798:"Federal judge denies former pharmacist Robert Courtney's request for early release"
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767:"Kansas City Pharmacist Who Diluted Cancer Meds Is Getting Out Of Pri son Early"
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In July 2020, Courtney was considered for release seven years early, due to the
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In early 2001, several nurses in the office of Dr. Verda Hunter (now Hicks), an
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536:"Kansas City Pharmacist Who Diluted Cancer Meds Is Getting Out Of Prison Early"
359:. His projected release date is on May 2, 2026, when he will be 74 years old.
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366:. He would have served the remainder of his sentence on house arrest in
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December 5, 2002, Courtney was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.
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135:. In 2002, after initially being caught diluting several doses of
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send a message that this type of deceit was not worth the cost.
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entitled "Deadly Pharmacist," chronicled Courtney's misdeeds.
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30 years in prison, $ 25,000 fine, $ 10.4 million restitution
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In 1990, Courtney began purchasing pharmaceuticals on the
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Tampering with drugs, adulteration or mislabeling of drugs
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570:"Ambition gone awry? The life of Robert R. Courtney".
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163:. Courtney graduated from the School of Pharmacy at
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February 27, 2002 (pleaded guilty), Incarcerated at
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655:"Did drugmaker know about pharmacist's tampering?"
832:FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports
343:inmate number 14536-045, started his sentence at
127:(born September 15, 1952) is an American former
734:"Jury awards plaintiff $ 2.2B in Courtney case"
151:. His father was a traveling minister based in
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899:University of Missouri–Kansas City alumni
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718:(Television Production). United States:
546:from the original on September 14, 2020
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345:Gilmer Federal Correctional Institution
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534:Dan MR> Margolies (July 13, 2020).
808:from the original on November 8, 2022
746:from the original on October 29, 2002
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777:from the original on August 18, 2024
671:from the original on October 8, 2018
838:from the original on April 17, 2024
478:from the original on March 30, 2019
874:American people convicted of fraud
716:License To Kill: Deadly Pharmacist
165:University of Missouri–Kansas City
64:University of Missouri-Kansas City
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869:21st-century American pharmacists
796:Katie Moore (September 1, 2020).
632:from the original on May 2, 2014
511:. April 19, 2002. Archived from
765:Dan Margolies (July 13, 2020).
464:Draper, Robert (June 8, 2003).
238:Investigators with the FBI and
16:American fraudster (born 1952)
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326:medications for diabetes and
879:Eli Lilly and Company people
739:Kansas City Business Journal
503:"Thousands of Diluted Drugs"
391:episode from November 2002,
351:before being transferred to
259:them in a sting operation.
180:megachurch in Kansas City.
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889:People convicted of fraud
341:Federal Bureau of Prisons
161:Wichita South High School
894:People from Hays, Kansas
349:Glenville, West Virginia
310:Plea Deal and Sentencing
143:Early life and education
422:Counterfeit medications
398:In 2008, an episode of
243:was telling the truth.
466:"The Toxic Pharmacist"
615:"Deadly Rx For Greed"
147:Courtney was born in
133:Kansas City, Missouri
802:The Kansas City Star
742:. October 11, 2002.
576:. September 9, 2001.
304:Bristol Myers-Squibb
667:. August 27, 2001.
357:Littleton, Colorado
125:Robert Ray Courtney
35:Robert Ray Courtney
834:. April 17, 2024.
471:The New York Times
81:Criminal charge(s)
45:September 15, 1952
368:Trimble, Missouri
364:COVID-19 pandemic
178:Assemblies of God
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47:(age 72)
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840:. Retrieved
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513:the original
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149:Hays, Kansas
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52:Hays, Kansas
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864:1952 births
335:Prison life
197:gray market
858:Categories
812:January 1,
750:August 31,
636:August 31,
519:August 31,
482:August 31,
428:References
339:Courtney,
219:oncologist
171:Adult life
153:Scott City
129:pharmacist
75:pharmacist
70:Occupation
41:1952-09-15
842:April 17,
393:Malignant
204:Eli Lilly
202:In 1998,
167:in 1975.
836:Archived
806:Archived
775:Archived
744:Archived
675:June 12,
669:Archived
630:Archived
628:. 2008.
544:Archived
508:CBS News
476:Archived
416:See also
320:Medicare
185:annulled
157:trombone
115:Children
722:. 2020.
73:Former
720:Oxygen
406:Oxygen
282:Prozac
271:Arrest
212:Gemzar
208:cancer
108:Spouse
54:, U.S.
355:near
347:near
210:drug
131:from
844:2024
814:2021
783:2020
771:KCUR
752:2010
677:2018
638:2010
624:CNBC
552:2020
540:KCUR
521:2010
484:2010
385:The
328:AIDS
31:Born
408:'s
240:FDA
228:FBI
159:at
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