A northern Nevada doctor has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and drug distribution charges in a deadly prescription drug ring.
Dr. Robert Rand said during sentencing Monday in U.S. District Court in Reno that he was sorry for what he called the terrible harm he caused to the family of Michael Yenick.
But Edward Yenick, the father of the 33-year-old former University of Nevada football player who died in 2015, rejected the apology.
He branded Rand a "monster with a stethoscope."
Judge Miranda Du ran an eight-year sentence for the drug charge concurrently with Rand's manslaughter sentence and said Rand will serve another three years after prison on supervised release.
The judge also fined Rand $25,000 and ordered him to pay $12,000 in funeral expenses to the Yenick family.
The Department of Justice says according to admissions made in the plea agreement, Rand prescribed an excessive amount of oxycodone to a patient without a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of professional practice that resulted in the patient’s death from oxycodone intoxication. From the start of treatment, in June 2014, Rand prescribed the patient oxycodone. The DOJ says in September 2014, a doctor spoke with Rand about the patient receiving 180 oxycodone pills per month from Rand and the patient’s history. The patient was hospitalized twice. Despite phone calls, records, and encounters, Rand continued to prescribe oxycodone to the patient. The DOJ says in September 2015, Rand prescribed 45 dosages of oxycodone in 30 mg amounts, as well as Xanax, to the patient. One week later, Rand prescribed an additional 180 dosages of oxycodone in 30 mg amounts to the patient. Rand acted with gross negligence in prescribing this oxycodone and did so in reckless regard for the patient’s life.
In court, the DOJ says Dr. Rand admitted that he prescribed Richie West 500 doses of oxycodone each month for more than half-a-year. They also say he also admitted that it was his prescription that led to the death of Michael Yenick.
West and the other co-defendants charged in this case have already guilty.
Yenick's parents released this statement about the sentencing.
The sentencing today of Robert Rand marks the end of a very difficult and trying two years for our family. While we agree that Mr. Rand deserves to go to prison for his crimes against our son, Michael "Bub" Yenick, today's sentencing brings us no joy -- it will not bring Bub back or take away the overwhelming grief of losing a child.
The only comfort we take from today's hearing is the knowledge that Mr. Rand cannot continue to recklessly prescribe opioids from a prison cell. We pray that Mr. Rand's punishment might spare other families the tragedy that we've had to endure.
We want to thank the DEA and the US Attorney's Office for their hard work and dedication to this case. Without their tireless commitment to Bub's Memory, justice in this matter might not have been done.
Ed and Cyndi Yenick
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
