Attorney General Todd Rokita recently secured the revocation of the medical license of Rensselaer physician, Dr. Patrick Sheets, for facilitating an illegal abortion, having sexual contact with patients and prescribing to addicts.
The Office of the Attorney General became aware of serious violations of state law, including Dr. Sheets’ facilitation of an illegal abortion for a patient with whom he had engaged in a sexual relationship and prescribing controlled substances despite her history of addiction. Following a nearly 8-hour hearing on Thursday before the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, Attorney General Rokita’s team successfully argued for the revocation of Dr. Sheets’ Indiana medical license.
“Vulnerable patients should not be preyed upon when seeking health care services, and the provider is expected to act in the patient’s best interests,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Dr. Sheets’ actions violated the trust that so many of us have in our health care providers and the boundaries we expect they maintain as professionals. Our office will continue to protect Hoosiers from unsafe medical practices.”
Over a period of several months, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) also received multiple consumer complaints alleging that Dr. Sheets engaged in dangerous prescribing habits, including prescribing controlled substances such as alprazolam to a patient with known substance abuse issues without proper evaluations, improperly securing a controlled substance key fob, and falsifying medical records.
In one complaint, a family member of a patient reported that Dr. Sheets continued prescribing addictive medications to their mother despite being informed of her addiction and alcoholism, contributing to her arrests and repeated rehabilitation stays. Another complainant, a former patient, alleged that Dr. Sheets coerced them into illegal activities to maintain access to prescribed medications and engaged in inappropriate relationships with patients and staff while prescribing controlled substances to them.
Attorney General Rokita expressed gratitude to Deputy Attorneys General Ryan Eldridge, Kelsey McKnight, Carah Rochester and Investigator Cassie McDaniel for their work on this case. Their thorough work bringing this case before the board resulted in the future protection of Hoosier patients.
In July, the Indiana State Board of Pharmacy agreed to accept an agreement by Dr. Sheets to suspend his license to prescribe controlled substances for 90 days.
The public is encouraged to report any concerns about medical practices to the Consumer Protection Division at www.IndianaConsumer.com or by calling 317-232-6330.
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