Indiana Physician Killed over Opioids

On July 26, 2017, Todd Graham, MD was shot and killed by the spouse of a patient who was demanding an opioid prescription for pain. Dr. Graham was a board certified Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and Pain Medicine partner at South Bend Orthopaedics in Mishawaka, Indiana. According to an article in STAT news, he refused the first-time patient a prescription, and a verbal altercation took place before the patient and her spouse left the office. Two hours later, the spouse returned and shot Dr. Graham in the parking lot. The article states that the law enforcement community is “trying to figure out how to best support doctors who are afraid they can’t win either way — overprescribe opioids and they risk fueling the fire; refuse to prescribe and they risk losing a patient in need of help, or putting their staff and themselves in danger.” Full story.