A dentist in Kentucky who is serving 20 years in prison for unlawfully prescribing morphine that caused the death of his 24-year-old patient had his convictions and sentence vacated, according to a court opinion dated April 16.
Dr. Jay Sadrinia, 61, who owned and operated dental clinics in Crescent Spring, KY, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in May 2024, will have a new trial, according to an opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Though there was enough evidence to convict Sadrinia of prescribing the morphine without a legitimate medical purpose that ended in a patient’s death, testimony about past unrelated events was improperly admitted at Sadrinia’s trial, according to the court opinion.
In June 2023, a jury convicted Sadrinia of one count of unlawful distribution of controlled substances resulting in death and one count of unlawful distribution of controlled substances.
Multiple times, Sadrinia prescribed morphine to his patient who underwent an extensive surgical procedure to restore her deteriorating jaw and teeth. The prescriptions exceeded the three-day supply allowed by the state. When the patient overdosed, a toxicology screen revealed that she had an amount of morphine in her system that was approximately three times the fatal amount, according to the opinion.
The patient didn’t tell Sadrinia that she was being treated for bipolar disorder, smoked marijuana every day, and was in recovery for an addiction to heroin.
During Sadrinia’s trial, the judge permitted former colleagues to testify about past bad acts despite objections from the defense. A fellow dentist testified that Sadrinia used her prescription pad, and a former office manager quit when Sadrinia used the other doctor's prescription pad and warned Sadrinia that his actions would result in killing a patient.
The appeals court ruled that the testimony from the colleagues wasn’t intrinsic and shouldn’t have been permitted at trial, according to the opinion. The prosecution argued that this error did not cause harm, but the appeals court couldn’t determine whether the bad acts testimony affected Sadrinia’s verdict, according to the opinion.
