Hunter
04/23/20
A former Cedar Rapids podiatrist has waived indictment and filed a notice to plead guilty to using pain medications he prescribed to patients for his own use.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that Steven Walter Beevers was charged in US District Court Tuesday with acquiring a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, deception or subterfuge.
Court documents indicate that Beevers would write ficitious, fraudulent prescrptions for hydrocodone under the pretense that the patients needed the medications for a medical condition. He then would allegedly convince the patients to fill the prescription, and give him some or all of the drugs.
The Iowa Board of Podiatry charged Beevers in February with professional incompetency because of his inability to practice due to substance abuse. He was also charged with unethical conduct and failing to comply with a board order by testing positive for alcohol use pending a disciplinary hearing.
He faces up to four years in prison, a fine of up to $350,000, and the loss of his podiatry license when he’s sentenced at an unknown future date.
