An Iowa appeals court has sided with a physician who was sued for defamation by a former Cedar Fall police officer who resigned amid a prescription painkiller investigation, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported March 20.
What happened?
- Brian Shock, a Cedar Falls, Iowa, police officer and crime lab investigator, became a patient of Matthew Kettman, MD, after a 2010 on-duty injury.
- Dr. Kettman discovered suspicious Vicodin prescriptions under Mr. Shock’s wife’s name and suspected drug diversion, according to the report. Meanwhile, Mr. Shock claimed he was running a sting operation but never followed up.
- Dr. Kettman reported his concerns to state regulators in 2016. Investigators found no sting, no dummy prescription and suggested the Shocks were not truthful.
- Kettman stopped prescribing opioids and ended care after additional overlapping prescriptions were discovered. Mr. Shock resigned from the police force and later sued Dr. Kettman for defamation.
- The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled in Kettman’s favor, saying his reports were in the public interest and legally protected.
