US EditionKennebunk Doctor Sentenced After Illegally Distributing Opioids
- On May 14, 2025, in Nashville, Michael Kestner, CEO of Pain MD, received an 18-month prison sentence in federal court for charges related to illegal opioid distribution and fraud.
- The sentence followed Kestner's conviction on 13 fraud felonies related to a decade-long scheme exploiting patients' opioid dependence with unnecessary injections.
- Pain MD operated up to 20 clinics across Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, administering about 700,000 costly and ineffective spinal injections to fearful patients.
- U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger characterized Kestner as a callous businessman indifferent to the harm caused to patients and noted that defense arguments highlighting his age, 73, and the blood disorder hemochromatosis influenced her decision.
- Kestner received a substantially reduced sentence due to health concerns and prison care doubts despite prosecutors seeking nearly 20 years, sparking outrage from former patients like Michelle Shaw.
52 Articles
52 Articles
Hartford Courant
Pain clinic CEO faced 20 years for making patients ‘human pin cushions.’ He got 18 months
By Brett Kelman, KFF Health News NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Federal prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of nearly 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a company found to have given hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, many reliant on opioids. It would have been among the longest sentences for a health care executive convicted of fraud in recent years. Instead, he got 18 months. Michael Kestner, 73, who was convicted of 13 f…
'Human pin cushions': 'Ruthless' pain clinic CEO facing 20 years gets off with 18 months
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Federal prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of nearly 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a company found to have given hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, many reliant on opioids. It would have been among the longest sentences for a health care executive convicted of fraud in recent years. Instead, he got 18 months.Michael Kestner, 73, who was convicted of 13 fraud felonies last year, faced at …
News Medical
Pain clinic CEO faced 20 years for making patients ‘human pin cushions.’ He got 18 months.
Federal prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of nearly 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a company found to have given hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, many reliant on opioids.
Pain Clinic CEO Faced 20 Years for Making Patients 'Human Pin Cushions.' He Got 18 Months.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Federal prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of nearly 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a company found to have given hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, many reliant on opioids. It would have been among the longest sentences for a health care executive convicted of fraud in recent years. Instead, he got 18 months. Michael Kestner, 73, who was convicted of 13 fraud felonies last year, faced at…
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