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Federal agency investigating local psychiatrist...
NORFOLK — A Virginia Beach psychiatrist is under investigation by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration amid findings by the state Board of Medicine that he improperly prescribed narcotics to addicts and other patients.
Jeremy A. Stowell, 64, who had an office at 3500 Virginia Beach Blvd., has been investigated for at least six months.
He surrendered his medical license this summer after hearings during which the medical board found that Stowell committed the equivalent of crimes under Virginia law, according to board records.
In April, the DEA seized nearly $280,000 from Stowell's bank accounts and home, according to records filed in U.S. District Court. It's unclear whether the DEA investigation resulted from the board's action or vice versa.
Randy Benavente, resident agent in charge of the local DEA office, acknowledged that an investigation is ongoing but declined to comment further.
Stowell's office number has been disconnected, and his home number is unlisted. Records list his last known address as the 3200 block of Stapleford Chase, Virginia Beach, but there was no answer at the door Thursday.
His attorney, Franklin A. Swartz, did not return calls seeking comment.
The seizure papers and related search warrants remain under seal in federal court, but the DEA filed other papers indicating the ongoing investigation.
An advertisement in the phone book says he is board-certified in treating addictions and that he also offers holistic treatment, in-depth psychotherapy and Buddhist mind-training.
Reports from the Virginia Board of Medicine, based on interviews with his patients and a review of his records, show a history of prescription abuse.
The board found that Stowell in 1998 prescribed Dexadrine, an amphetamine, to one patient while knowing that the patient was sharing the drug with another person, also one of his patients, according to board records.
Stowell prescribed Ritalin, Oxycontin and amphetamines “absent documented rationale or adequate diagnosis,” to a patient in 1999, the board said in papers.
The board also found that Stowell prescribed Percocet and other narcotics to a patient from 1997 to 2004 and “failed to adequately monitor this patient who had a documented history” of narcotics abuse.
Another patient “with a documented history of heroin, alcohol and cocaine abuse” continued to receive prescriptions from Stowell for Oxycontin, methadone and other drugs “without documenting that any diagnostic studies were performed or if positive findings were made,” the board said. The board added that Stowell knew this patient shared the drugs with his girlfriend.
The board found that Stowell committed the violations with eight patients since 1995. The board found that Stowell's improper prescription practice was the equivalent of committing a felony or misdemeanor under Virginia law.
In a board consent order on Aug. 2 , Stowell neither admitted nor denied the board's findings, but he agreed to surrender his license and retire.
This is not the first time Stowell has faced legal trouble.
In 1994, Stowell pleaded guilty to mail fraud, admitting that he defrauded health insurers out of about $31,000 for patient counseling sessions that never occurred or whose length of time was inflated.
He was fined $10,500, given six months of home confinement, 360 hours of community service and ordered to make restitution.
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