Cleveland: Cops and doctors

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A Cleveland doctor arrested Thursday on drug charges could have his license suspended, state officials said.

One of his patients, a Cleveland police officer, is under investigation and has been suspended without pay.

A search warrant for Dr. James W. Sego shows that he prescribed 5,520 oxycodone pills and 720 hydrocodone pills to Officer Nathan Thomas between Nov. 14, 2007 and Nov. 20, 2008.

Dr. Sego was arrested on four felony charges connected to drug fraud and was released on a $25,000 bond.

Cleveland Assistant Police Chief Gary Hicks said Friday that Officer Thomas has been suspended without pay and is the subject of internal police department and TBI criminal investigations.

Mike Hall, director of the 10th Judicial Drug Task Force, said his investigators have seen Dr. Sego as a “person of interest” for about two years.

According to the search warrant, two Cleveland pharmacists contacted Dr. Sego about the amount of pills he was prescribing to Officer Thomas.

Dr. Sego told the pharmacists that “he has known Nathan Thomas for a long time, and he could handle the amount of controlled substances he was receiving,” according to the warrant.

Mr. Hall consulted three licensed medical professionals and all agreed that, “Mr. Thomas has received more narcotics than his body can physically handle,” the warrant stated.

Task force agents found a wooden pill crusher and mirror with residue on it in Officer Thomas’ bedroom during their search, according to police records.

They also found one snorting device in his bedroom, one in the bathroom, one in his truck parked in the garage, two under couch cushions in an upstairs room and one on a coffee table in the same room, according to police records.

Agents also found five different pill bottles and multiple glass vials labeled Depo-testosterone and numerous syringes in the home, , according to police records.

Mr. Hall said Thursday that there is evidence that Officer Thomas may have sold some of the pills.

He anticipated other indictments in the case, but did not name anyone else involved.

Cleveland police officer Jon Hammons told Mr. Hall that Officer Thomas had told him about “trying to break his addiction to pain medication, but he said he could not afford treatment,” according to the warrant.

Dr. Sego has held a medical license since May 1996 and has no disciplinary actions or criminal offenses listed on the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners Web site.

Angela Turner, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Health, said the board could review a doctor’s medical license “if the criminal activity has implications on their profession.”

The board could immediately revoke a doctor’s license if that doctor has posed “immediate risk of harm or danger to residents of the state,” Ms. Turner said.

“The doctor doesn’t have to be present for that,” she said.

A physician whose license has been suspended may appear before the board to appeal for reinstatement. That usually happens within seven days of the suspension, she said.