Kentucky Interventional Pain Physician Acquitted of Federal Charges

Dr. Kendall Hansen, a prominent Kentucky physician, rose to fame when his namesake horse ran the Kentucky Derby. He appeared in the press again after a 2019 raid on his practice.

By: Ronald W. Chapman II

Dr. Kendall Hansen Acquitted of Drug Trafficking

After 2 and a half days of deliberation, a federal jury emerged from deliberations in Covington, Kentucky, to acquit Dr. Kendall Hansen of drug trafficking. Dr. Hansen, a prominent Kentucky interventional pain physician, was the subject of a federal search warrant on his practice, Interventional Pain Specialists, in 2019. The search warrant alleged that Dr. Hansen unlawfully conspired with others to distribute controlled substances out of the Northern Kentucky practice. After a month long trial he was acquitted of one count of conspiracy to traffic in drugs and of several other counts of drug trafficking individual prescriptions. He was facing a statutory maximum of over 20 years in prison.

His defense team, Ronald W. Chapman II of Chapman Law Group and investigator Michael Staples of Chapman Consulting Group, were relieved to hear the news after the nearly month-long federal trial.

“Dr. Hansen exceeded standards, including those of ASIPP. The testimony of his well credentialed employees speaks volumes about his skill and compassion as a physician.  We were confident in a good outcome. I am grateful he can begin recovering from the damage the DOJ has caused him.” Chapman also commented, “Dr. Hansen has additional remedies available to restore his standing and we are currently assessing those options.”

This is the most recent in a string of victories for Federal Criminal Defense Attorney Ronald W. Chapman II who recently secured the acquittal of Dr. Thomas Sachy, Dr. David Lewis, Dr. Loey Kousa, Dr. Lesly Pompy in separate trials since June of 2022. Chapman has secured more acquittals for physicians facing drug trafficking and healthcare fraud than any attorney in the country. One of which the Detroit Free Press named the biggest loss for the Detroit United States Attorney’s Office in more than a decade.

The Suspicious Origins of Hansen’s Case

The origins of the case, relate back to former attorney Eric Deters a disbarred Northern Kentucky Attorney. Deters, known (and disbarred) for his unethical litigation tactics has pursued physicians by leveraging his relationship with Federal Law Enforcement. He has previously been convicted of menacing and once threatened to burn down a courthouse.

In pursuit of his next target, Deters levied a slew of malpractice suits against Hansen. To support these suits he frequently communicated with law enforcement agents in an attempt to draw out a Federal case. Deters placed in investigator in the courtroom every day of the month long trial and provided nightly coverage on his YouTube channel in an attempt to support his suits with negative publicity.

The Government Attempted to Allege Over 11 Patient Deaths

Dr. Hansen was indicted along with another physician, Dr. Michael Fletcher. The government alleged that Dr. Hansen and Dr. Fletcher were involved in the deaths of over 11 patients who were treated at Interventional Pain Specialists. But as the month-long trial wore on, it became readily apparent that causation was in question. The government witnesses included a few employees from the practice, family members of deceased patients, and an expert witness, Dr. Timothy King.

In addition, the government called Kentucky’s Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Bill Ralston, to testify that Dr. Hansen and Dr. Fletcher caused the deaths of the patients in question. Several of the patients involved in the government’s case didn’t even have an autopsy. Others were missing vital information such as a proper scene investigation. Cross-examination of several family members of the victims uncovered potentially nefarious actions, including one who admitted to providing the drug heroin to one of Dr. Hansen’s patients, who was suffering from cancer, and assisting her in avoiding detection by the practice.

Dr. Timothy King provided a well-prepared direct examination applying his patent-pending objective standard for determining when a physician is drug dealing. However, on cross-examination, he couldn’t escape the fact that much of the language in his patented approach was not derived from even the highest standards applicable to interventional pain physicians, the ASIPP guidelines. It became abundantly clear that he espoused an ivory tower view of what a physician must do in order to avoid being charged as a drug dealer. In one very bizarre instance, Dr. King claimed that a physician should have reviewed 3000 pages of hospital records to determine if the patient showed apparent signs of addiction or abuse.

Dr. King was also sketchy on some of the fundamental tenets of pain management practice. He claimed that 40 morphine milligram equivalence was a high dose. He also claimed that the DSM-5 would consider a patient who has withdrawal due to tolerance an addicted patient.

The Defense Case Included Crucial Testimony from Employees, Patients and an Expert Witness

The defense case included testimony from vital employee witnesses, many of whom had been with Dr. Hansen for over a decade, and some for over two decades. In addition, several of his patients, including prominent members of the community, a former prosecutor, the county coroner for a local county, and nurses who started their career with Dr. Hansen, all congregated at the federal courthouse to inform the jury about their experience with the interventional pain physician. One medical assistant, who later became a physician, testified about his beginnings at Dr. Hansen’s practice. He fondly recalled Dr. Hansen training him and helping him understand the practice of medicine. Defense testimony was capped off with the expert testimony of Dr. James Patrick Murphy.

Dr. Murphy provided the jury with the actual standard for when we determine that a physician is unlawfully prescribing. He reviewed over 27 cases from IPS and determined that there was no illegal conduct and that Dr. Hansen’s care exceeded all available standards.

Dr. Hansen is grateful for the jury’s time and attention in evaluating the case. He is also grateful for the work and attention of the court staff. His attorney, Ronald Chapman II, hopes that this victory signals to federal prosecutors that disrupting a physician’s practice for years and casting their patients away as pariahs should not be done based on standards put forth by experts such as Dr. Timothy King.

In Over 30 Years of Pain Management Practice Hansen Developed a World Class Facility in Northern Kentucky

Hansen brought world class pain management to Northern Kentucky

One patient who testified informed the 12 Kentucky jurors that Dr. Hansen treated her better than the physicians at the Cleveland clinic and helped her avoid the ER during debilitating episodes by pursuing alternative treatment for her headache. Another patient testified that Hansen gave him his life back by allowing him to function and enjoy time with his grand kids. Dr. Kelly King a local chiropractor testified that he and Hansen met when a patient of Hansens had a tremendously successful outcome. Hansen was excited to meet him fostering a working relationship that involved treatment of over 1,000 mutual patients. Dr. King testified that the patients had great outcomes.

Hansen’s success came from his ability to attract world class talent to the small Northern Kentucky community. Physicians from the Mayo Clinic, Harvard, and other prominent institutions trained under Hansen before starting their own practices. He was able to acquire seven C-Arm machines and staff seven operating rooms to effectively treat the residents of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

Unfortunately, the implementation of House Bill 1 and the CDC Guidelines pushed Kentucky’s pain patients on pain management physicians who weren't equipped to handle treatment of the influx of complex pain patients - some of which received high doses of pain medication from prior prescribers. Hansen rose to the challenge by accepting patients, hiring staff, and modifying office procedures to assist patients while still maintaining compliance.

After the closure of several prominent pain management practices in the area, Dr. Hansen worked to assist patients in pain. An initiative that is currently supported by Health and Human Services Interagency Task Force Guidelines. This effort would later be criticized by federal prosecutors who alleged that he was assisting patients who came from practices that were “shut down”.

Prosecutors repeatedly attempted to introduce evidence of the status of local practices in an attempt to stigmatize Dr. Hansen’s patients. This has been a favored tactic of the DEA when an area practice closes due to federal or state enforcement. Dr. Lesly Pompy faced this after the closure of the practice of Oscar Linares.