An Arlington primary care doctor who worked out of her home has been charged with illegally distributing tens of thousands of oxycodone pills over the course of about 10 years.
Dr. Kirsten Van Steenberg Ball, 68, faces 21 counts of distribution of oxycodone and one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
Ball is accused of conspiring with her office manager, Candie Marie Calix, 40, of Front Royal. Calix was sentenced to seven years in prison last September for her role in the scheme.
According to the federal grand jury indictment, Ball allegedly prescribed about 50,000 oxy pills to Calix — who disguised herself under a fake name — over a roughly 10-year period.
The indictment, announced Friday, said Ball was investigated by the Virginia Department of Health Professions twice, in 2015 and 2021. Despite the investigations, Ball allegedly didn’t stop writing fraudulent prescriptions. Examples in the indictment, by way of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, include the following:
- Prescribing a patient as many as 360 oxycodone 30-mg tablets per month;
- Prescribing similarly high quantities of oxycodone to close family members;
- Paying a patient to perform manual labor on Ball’s home while concurrently prescribing the patient oxycodone, ostensibly for long-term pain;
- Loaning a patient $40,000 while concurrently prescribing the patient oxycodone;
- Continuing to prescribe oxycodone to patients after they failed drug screens.
Should Ball be convicted, each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, although actual sentences are typically less.
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