WICHITA — A Wichita pharmacist has been indicted in a scheme to unlawfully distribute tens of thousands of opioid tablets that has already ensnared a doctor.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 45-year-old Ebube Otuonye, of Bel Aire, faces one count of conspiracy to unlawfully dispense prescription drugs, one count of unlawfully dispensing prescription drugs and two counts of health care fraud. Otuonye’s attorney didn’t immediately return an email Wednesday from The Associated Press.
The indictment says he unlawfully distributed 21,681 tablets of Oxycodone, 48,683 tablets of Methadone, 18,049 tablets of Hydromorphone and 7,890 tablets of Alprazolam. The prescriptions were written by Steven Henson, a Wichita doctor who is set for trial in October on charges of unlawfully prescribing prescription drugs. He is accused of over-prescribing pain medication blamed on one patient’s death.