KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — A federal judge has determined that Kingsport physician Scott McLain is a high flight risk, stating that “no combination of conditions can be imposed” to guarantee his court appearances, which is why he remains in custody.
McLain, affiliated with Kingsport Primary Care and arrested on July 1, faces four federal charges, including health care benefit fraud, falsifying statements, and illegal distribution of controlled substances.
The allegations include McLain’s billing of insurers for unperformed services and unauthorized distribution of drugs classified under Schedule II and Schedule IV, like Oxycodone, as detailed in an affidavit revealed last week. These charges result from an inquiry that spanned over two years.
In Wednesday’s order, Judge Cynthia Wyrick explained her rationale for supporting a prosecutor’s argument that McLain should not be released pending trial. Her order summarized both sides’ arguments before providing her reasoning to ultimately deny his release.
Wyrick’s primary reason for denying McClain’s request for release was that he could have means, financially or otherwise, to flee a state or region in an attempt to avoid court or jail.
Defense: McLain neither flight risk nor danger to community
Defense attorney Corey Shipley argued that McLain “is neither a danger to the community, nor a risk of flight.”
Shipley cited “his ties to local community, including his daughter who lives in Maryville, as well as his business.” He argued any danger to the community that would impede his release would be eliminated by having McLain surrender his license to prescribe controlled substances throughout the case’s court hearings.
Shipley said that McLain’s statements about his assets and income had a reasonable explanation after Wyrick noted he “failed to disclose” to the court or the probation office “having any interest in the property where the practice is located.”
Shipley said Kingsport Primary Care’s building is owned by his father, who lives in New York. He added that the elder McLain had purchased the practice for him as well as medical equipment and the building, and that Dr. McLain had repaid some of that total $1.6 million.
Shipley claimed the described structure was put into place because McLain “has a history of difficulty managing his finances.” He said that made it “reasonable for Defendant not to know or understand what he was being paid,” court documents state, regarding the defense’s argument on McLain’s wages.
McLain’s defense also argued that his father was paying McLain’s “substantial” child support and student loans before McLain ever received any pay.
Prosecutor: McLain’s past, honesty are issues
Prosecutors pointed to the allegations that McLain prescribed “large quantities of controlled substances” to intimate partners and to “third parties for the purpose of those drugs being returned to him or his intimate partner.” Those patterns, they said, show he is a danger to the community.
Also cited were a history of substance abuse, a months-long mental health treatment after a breakdown and a past DUI. They also pointed to McLain was previously charged with similar conduct to the current federal charges. Those charges, Wyrick wrote, “were only dismissed after Defendant repaid TennCare roughly $200,000.”
Judge’s Decision
Judge Wyrick ultimately decided to deny McLain’s request for release, citing him as a potential flight risk who “likely has ample financial resources to fund flight,” the order states.
“Defendant is facing the potential of a very long prison term and loss of his medical license if convicted of the offenses with which he has been charged,” Wyrick wrote.
“While Defendant attempts to explain away the proof offered against him, it appears to the Court that the United States has strong proof that Defendant was prescribing controlled substances in violation of the law and that he was engaging in fraudulent billing practice, billing more than twenty-four hours in a day on multiple occasions.”
Wyrick wrote that McLain has ties to several other states and few real ties to this area. She also noted his request to continue living with a girlfriend upon release, one whom he allegedly “has written prescriptions while being engaged with her in an intimate relationship.”
She wrote that suspending his prescribing privileges may not prevent him, McLain, from posing a danger to the community. “Defendant’s conduct showed a willingness to prescribe medication outside the restrictions of medical regulations and to individuals who were not his patients.”
Based on all those factors, Wyrick wrote, “no combination of conditions can be imposed at this juncture which would reasonably assure Defendant’s appearance as required or the safety of the community if he were released.”
McLain’s next appearance in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, a status conference, is set for Aug. 7.
