Assistant District Attorney Howard Chambers did the right thing when he denied Dr. Robert Ladd’s application for pretrial diversion after Ladd’s indictment for TennCare fraud by a Macon County Grand Jury in February, 2006, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals at Nashville ruled recently.

In each count of the 2006 indictment, Ladd, 71, of Lafayette is charged with writing prescriptions for a female enrolled in TennCare in exchange for sexual favors, over a period of several months in 2004. The prescriptions were for morphine and Oxycontin.

The day after Ladd was arraigned on three counts of aiding and abetting in TennCare fraud - February 15, 2006 - he filed an application for pretrial diversion.

After due process, Chambers denied Ladd’s request in June of 2007, giving the following reasons:

•Ladd, a licensed doctor being in a role of trust with his patients, knowingly committed a fraud for sexual favors;

•Ladd knowingly committed a fraud against a state program designed to aid persons without insurance;

•Ladd’s crimes are dangerous because medication was prescribed to persons likely to abuse it; and

•diversion would not meet the ends of justice and would be against public policy.

Ladd argued, in his request to the Court of Appeals to overturn the denial, that Chambers focused on irrelevant issues and showed an unwillingness to consider factors that weighed in favor of pretrial diversion.

The State, after reviewing the social and criminal history of Ladd, the circumstances of the offense, the possibility of his rehabilitation, and his past problems with his CEA certification and licensure, found Chambers’ decision not to grant pretrial diversion sound.

“The act of exchanging drugs for sex is either participating in prostitution or rape,” said Chambers. “Either of these is a crime against a person. Maybe the women were willing participants, but Ladd was in a position of trust. He violated this position by his actions.”

Ladd’s past history of prescribing and dispensing controlled substances improperly was another reason for the denial.

Twenty years ago, in 1989, The Board of Osteopathic Examiners found Ladd guilty of a “pattern of continued ignorance, negligence or incompetence in the course of his medical practice as evidenced by his over prescribing of scheduled drugs and inadequate medical record keeping.”

This ruling resulted in a six-month suspension of Ladd’s Drug Enforcement Administration license and a requirement that he attend a course in the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances.

“Ladd’s pattern of conduct suggests he would be a repeat offender,” said Chambers. “In looking at the past as a guide to the future, he has not shown a willingness to conform, as the new charges are consistent with past problems.”

Ladd will now go to trial in Macon County, appearing on the next docket of Judge David Durham’s court on October 28, 2009.