A federal grand jury has indicted an Arlington, Virginia, doctor who allegedly distributed thousands of oxycodone pills without medical reason for nearly a decade.
The indictment accused 68-year-old Kirsten Van Steenberg Ball of using a medical practice in her Arlington home to commit the crimes, according to a Friday news release. She did so, the indictment states, with the help of her office manager, 40-year-old Candie Marie Calix of Front Royal, Virginia.
Calix allegedly used an alias so she could act as a patient of Ball, who doled out roughly 50,000 oxycodone pills over nearly a decade. She was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in conspiring to distribute oxycodone on Sept. 28.
Virginia Department of Health Professions officials investigated issues with Ball’s prescribing practices in 2015 and 2021, but the indictment alleges that her prescribing decisions did not change.
Instead, officials said she prescribed up to 360 30-mg oxycodone tablets every month to patients and close family members. She also lent out money and paid for labor from patients to whom she was concurrently prescribing oxycodone.
Ball is charged with conspiring to distribute oxycodone, and 21 counts of distribution of oxycodone, which holds a maximum 20 year sentence for each count.
