Harrison County Doctor Sentenced for Improper Prescribing of Adderall

CLARKSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – A West Virginia doctor was sentenced today to 24 months in federal prison for the unlawful distribution of controlled substances and for destroying evidence of his crimes.

David Elwood Hess, 61, of Bridgeport, West Virginia, was convicted of one count of improper prescribing and one count of destroying records in a federal investigation after a trial earlier this year. Hess wrote prescriptions for Adderall to his patients without a legitimate medical purpose and beyond the bounds of professional practice. Once investigators seized Hess’s phone as evidence, Hess remotely wiped his iPhone.

Hess will serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Cogar and Eleanor Hurney prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Kleeh presided.