Federal jury convicts Arlington doctor that illegally distributed tens of thousands of oxycodone pills
ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now) — A federal jury convicted an Arlington County primary care doctor who illegally distributed tens of thousands of oxycodone pills.
Kirsten Van Steenberg Ball, 69, was a primary care physician who operated a medical practice out of her home in Arlington. She conspired with her office manager, 41-year-old Candy Marie Calix, of Front Royal, to hide their operation from law enforcement and other agencies that they were prescribing vast amounts of the pills to their patients.
Ball issued prescriptions for over 1 million oxycodone pills, according to court records.
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The Virginia Department of Health Professions (DHP) investigated Ball in 2014, 2015, and 2021 for “excessive and improper prescribing of oxycodone.”
During the first DHP investigation, Ball made Calix use a false name due to her being Ball’s office manager and to hide the fact that she was getting the pills from Ball. Court records showed that Calix was also a patient of Ball’s and was prescribed about 50,000 oxycodone pills over 10 years. Evidence and testimony from the trial showed that Ball falsified records that she submitted to DHP to cover up her excessive oxycodone prescriptions to patients for no legitimate medical reason.
It was revealed that Ball also had Calix recruit other people including some of Calix’s immediate family to become pain patients of Ball’s so that she could continue prescribing excessive amounts of oxycodone to them too.
Calix sold tens of thousands of the pills that Ball prescribed to them.
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Ball also prescribed oxycodone to drug traffickers and drug addicts in exchange for hundreds of dollars. Ball generally did not take new patients unless one of her established patients vouched for them, because she told Calix that they could be undercover police. Several of her patients even became addicted.
The FBI was able to introduce an undercover agent pretending to be a nephew of an existing patient. Recorded conversations between the two showed that the “nephew” was sharing the pills with his family. Ball said that was “a felony” and she “would simply not write it down in his patient file, and not to tell anybody else.” She continued to prescribe him large amounts which also escalated.
Ball also paid some of her patients to perform manual labor on her home and cars while she prescribed them oxycodone, seemingly for long-term pain. Three of her patients did unpaid, bi-weekly cleanings of her home for several years.
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Ball also told multiple patients that they would never find another doctor who would be able to provide them with as much oxycodone as she did for them.
Ball was convicted on 20 counts and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Her sentencing will be on Feb. 27, 2024.
Calix was sentenced to seven years in prison on Sept. 28, 2022, for conspiring to distribute oxycodone.
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