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An Illinois dentist gave his patients half doses of fentanyl used for anesthesia so he could pocket the rest and use it for himself, prosecutors said.
Phillip Jensen, 61, was arrested Monday on federal charges accusing the Springfield-area dentist of giving diluted anesthesia to patients and in one case causing “serious bodily harm,” according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois.
Jensen allegedly “pierced the fentanyl vials, removed half the fentanyl, and set it aside for his personal use,” the attorney’s office said in a news release.
“He then refilled the vials of fentanyl with another solution and administered the adulterated fentanyl, which was now at half its labeled strength, to his patients,” the release stated.
The dentist was licensed by the Drug Enforcement Administration to dispense controlled substances but dipped into the supply meant for patients from “at least” December 2019 to August 2020, the attorney’s office said.
Jensen is also accused of distributing a mixture containing fentanyl outside his professional practice, though the news release doesn’t specify to whom. The indictment against him outlines how he tampered with consumer products by refilling the vials and replacing safety caps, then falsified records and covered up the services he provided to patients.
He’s being held pending a detention hearing in front of a federal judge on Wednesday, the attorney’s office said. Jensen is facing decades behind bars if convicted on charges including eight counts of drug diversion and eight counts of acquiring a controlled substance by fraud
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