CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Charleston doctor admitted to giving a patient a painkiller that he never reported.
Dr. Iraj Derakhshan, a neurologist, pleaded guilty to a federal record Thursday in Charleston federal court.
Derakhshan is required to give up his registration number with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that prescribes drugs, according to a deal made with federal prosecutors.
The state Board of Medicine has already suspended his license for three years after they found he wasn’t keeping the appropriate medical records, but he appealed the suspension to the Kanawha County Circuit Court. The medicine board also said he was providing patients with the wrong instructions when it came to controlled substance use.
Derakshan also admitted admitted that he was never authorized to dispense controlled substances, and that he distributed the drug fentanyl illegally to a patient.
At least 64 patients under the medical care of Derakhshan died from overdose between 2010 and 2015, according to a federal drug enforcement agent.
Derakhshan will face four years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 8.