ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A former Virginia doctor will serve 10 years in prison for illegally prescribing and distributing over one million oxycodone pills. According to court documents, Kirsten Van Steenberg Ball was a primary care physician who operated a medical practice from her home in Arlington, Virginia.
Ball’s office manager, Candie Marie Calix, conspired with her to operate and conceal the drug business. Calix’s role was to recruit individuals, which included her own family members. These individuals would then become pain patients of Dr. Ball, allowing her to prescribe them large quantities of oxycodone.
Calix was a patient of Dr. Ball herself. Ball prescribed Calix approximately 50,000 oxycodone pills over 10 years. Other patients under Ball’s care would receive as many as 360 oxycodone 30-mg pills per month. To conceal the amount from the authorities, Ball would split the prescriptions up into two 180-pill prescriptions.
Ball would prescribe the pills to people who showed signs of drug dependence, addiction, or abuse, those who had been arrested and convicted for selling drugs, and those who would request early refills on claims of lost or stolen pills.
The government launched an investigation into three of Ball’s former patients who died of drug overdoses. For example, Ball simultaneously prescribed one of her patients both oxycodone and benzodiazepines, while noting in the patient’s chart that they were overusing and abusing their medication, and had been admitted to a local emergency room for a drug overdose.
Despite all of this, Ball continued prescribing the patient oxycodone. On July 22, 2016, Ball prescribed her patient, 240 oxycodone 30-mg pills, and a few weeks later, she passed away in her home from an oxycodone overdose.
In 2014, 2015, and 2021 the Virginia Department of Health Professions investigated Ball, during which time she falsified records to cover up the fact that she was prescribing oxycodone to patients for no legitimate reason. Following the initial investigation, Ball told Calix to use a fake name since she was the office manager and a patient receiving prescriptions.
The FBI placed an undercover officer, posing as the nephew of an existing patient. In recorded conversations, the undercover officer told Ball he was sharing his pills with his family. Ball said that was “a felony” but wouldn’t include that information in his patient's file.
On September 28, 2022, Calix was sentenced to seven years for conspiring to distribute oxycodone.
In addition to the 10-year prison sentence, Ball is ordered to forfeit $750,000 and pay an additional $50,000 in community restitution.
Do you have a news tip on this story or any other story? We want to hear from you. Tell us about it by emailing newstips@wusa9.com.
MORE WAYS TO GET WUSA9
DOWNLOAD THE WUSA9 APP
Apple App Store: WUSA9 News on Apple
Google Play Store: WUSA9 News on Android
HOW TO ADD THE FREE WUSA9+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for WUSA9.
For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for "WUSA9" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
SIGN UP TO RECEIVE WUSA9 NEWSLETTER
Subscribe to our daily WUSA9 Newsletter for top stories from WUSA9 curated daily just for you. Get content and information right now for can’t-miss stories, Commanders content, weather, and more delivered right to your inbox.