A Tennessee nurse practitioner is facing a lengthy prison sentence after being found guilty of drug-related offenses.
A jury found Heather Marks, a 43-year-old, guilty of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and eight counts of illegally distributing controlled substances. She will be sentenced on September 1st and faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of conviction.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Marks prescribed almost 1 million opioid pills, including oxycodone and oxymorphone, to nearly 1,000 patients seeking pain treatment at Lifeforce Pain and Wellness, which is located in Carthage.
The DOJ noted Marks prescribed these opioids from September 2016 to May 2018.
Marks was licensed with the Drug Enforcement Administration to dispense controlled substances, the DOJ said.
The patients Marks gave opioids to were addicted to illegal drugs and opioids given to them at the treatment facility, the DOJ added.
On top of this, Marks gave opioids to patients who she knew had a chance of selling the opioids on the street, the DOJ noted.
According to the DOJ, patients would travel hundreds of miles to get opioid prescriptions at Lifeforce Pain and Wellness because Marks would prescribe the medications to them without factoring in whether they would abuse the medications or sell them on the street.
The FBI, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) investigated the case.
TBI says an estimated 70,000 Tennesseans have an addiction to opioids.
A 2023 report from the Tennessee Department of Health showed approximately 3,616 people died from drug overdose.
WKRN reported that in East Tennessee, a new synthetic opioid called cychlorphine has been attributed to over 50 deaths across the region.
Cychlorphine is supposed to be 10 times more powerful than fentanyl, the outlet said.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
