About 40 agents took part in the raid of the office of Dr. Narendra Nagareddy on Thursday. The agents who conducted the raid were from the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office, Clayton County police and the Georgia Department of Community Supervision. While Nagareddy was held at his office, his home was raided and items removed from the residence.
According to legal documents, 36 of his patients died after being prescribed controlled substances by Nagareddy. It is alleged none of these patients had a medical need for these drugs.
Investigators have so far determined 12 of these patients died from prescription drug intoxication.
Nagareddy has been charged under the state’s Controlled Substance Act. Clayton County Police Chief Mike Register said, “He’s a psychiatrist in Jonesboro who has been over-prescribing opiates and benzodiazepine and the last several years has had a multiple of overdoses and overdose deaths. People come to this person for help, and instead of getting help, they’re met with deadly consequences. If the allegations are true, he’s Dr. Death, no doubt about it.”
WSB-TV reports one of the victims, Audrey Austin, 28, was a wife and the mother of two young boys. In February 2014, she was released from a hospital where she had been treated for depression and anxiety. After she left the hospital she went to see Nagareddy who prescribed medication. The next day, she died of an overdose. The official cause of death was “acute combined toxicity”, the result of the combination of two drugs the psychiatrist allegedly prescribed for her.
Clayton County DA Tracy Graham Lawson said, “He’s charged with prescribing pain medication, which is outside his profession as a psychiatrist and not for a legitimate purpose for the patient.”
Nagareddy’s attorney, Steven Frey, says he and the psychiatrist do not believe he is responsible for anyone’s death and there will be a vigorous defence of the charges. Frey added the doctor has a lot of support within the medical community.
In addition to the charges of improperly prescribing pain medication, the Clayton County DA’s office has filed a civil RICO application to seize Nagareddy’s assets.
