Doctor Denies Illegal Distribution of Painkillers

A physician at a Sun Valley clinic pleaded not guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to 13 counts of distributing prescription painkillers and sleeping pills to patients without a medical need.

Kanu Devshandra Sharma, 31, of Sepulveda, wrote prescriptions that were “outside the usual course of medical practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Joyce A. Karlin said.

The federal indictment of Sharma was one of the results of a federal-state investigation--dubbed “Operation Rx”--into the distribution of medications by doctors working with diet and medical clinics, pharmacists and street drug dealers, Karlin said.

Federal Magistrate James J. Penne set trial for Dec. 30.

The counts stem from prescriptions allegedly written for four patients at the Serra Medical Clinic in Sun Valley between March 19 and July 1. According to the indictment, the drugs prescribed were the tranquilizer Valium; Doriden, a sleeping pill; Fastin, an amphetamine used to lose weight; and Tylenol with codeine, a painkiller.

“He gave them out to distribute the drugs and not to handle a medical problem. It’s drug dealing out of a medical office,” Karlin said.

Sharma, a native of India, is free after posting $45,000 bail.

Beverly Hills attorney Bruce J. Kelton, who represents Sharma, said the physician, who has worked at the Serra Medical Clinic since 1984, “acted competently and professionally” in dispensing drugs.

Patients who came to Sharma complaining of back pain were examined and diagnosed in line with standard medical practices before drugs were prescribed, Kelton said.

“We intend to establish that he committed no criminal act or impropriety,” he said.