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twitterHer outlook darkened as her addiction deepened, journal details
courtesy rene alkazoff
Staci Voyda, shown in an undated photo provided by her mother, committed suicide in August. She had been a patient of Dr. Kevin Buckwalter’s.
Wed, Oct 15, 2008 (2 a.m.)
Dr. Buckwalter, In His Own Words
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Deposition
Sun archives
Staci Voyda’s journal is a stark look into prescription narcotic addiction.
And her medical records show the ease with which she obtained narcotics from Dr. Kevin Buckwalter.
“Yesterday I went to see a doctor about my drug addiction,” Voyda wrote on Feb. 24, 2007, the day after her first visit to Buckwalter. “I got myself hooked on OC. But I saw that I had a problem and I went to get help. The doctor gave me two prescriptions and one that he gave me makes me depressed. When Jonathan came home last night we got into a fight because I did some things he told me not to.”
Buckwalter’s medical records from Voyda’s initial visit do not indicate her addiction to OxyContin, which many addicts crush into powder and snort. Her prescription records show that on that visit he prescribed her 120 doses of clonazepam, an anti-anxiety drug similar to Xanax, and 90 doses of methadone, a narcotic that can be used as a pain reliever or to reduce withdrawal symptoms for people addicted to other narcotics.
The Jonathan named in Voyda’s journal, her boyfriend, was reached by the Sun on his cell phone. He promised to call back but has not.
Some of Voyda’s family members and friends were addicts, and it’s clear in hindsight that she was also hooked on painkillers, her family members say. But for a long time they didn’t know she was addicted. They had seen her as the strong one, helping others to fight their addictions.
But her journal shows otherwise.
• “I hope (Jonathan) gets home soon. I need him to help take my mind off of drugs. I keep thinking if I do one line it won’t matter.”
• “I’m still clean, no OC since Friday morning and today is Sunday. That’s very good for me ... When (Jonathan) messes with me or ignores me it makes me want to do a line so bad. Because before I was high so it was so easy to deal with. Now I’m not high and it’s hard to deal with him ignoring me.”
• Since Friday and I have been clean. I’m proud of myself but I’m ashamed. I wish I never would of done this to myself. I want to do a line but my body feels good but I just keep thinking about it. What do I do to keep my mind off of it.”
Pharmacy records from March 2007 show that on Voyda’s second visit to Buckwalter, she was prescribed 240 pills of a generic form of Xanax, twice as many as the month before, and 150 methadone tablets. Under “Chief Complaint,” Buckwalter’s records from the visit say: “4 meds; wants Xanax.”
Voyda’s journal entries become darker and more sporadic until April, when they end. At that same time, Voyda — known in high school as “Skittles” for handing out the candies to cheer people — was growing more distant from family and friends. In a note to an ex-boyfriend, she wrote: “I’m dead inside ... I have nowhere to go. I just want to crawl in a dark hole.”
Records show that Buckwalter continued Voyda on a steady regimen of generic Xanax and methadone, but at a party on June 8, 2007, Voyda overdosed on the narcotic, hospital records show. Urine tests showed she also was abusing alcohol and Xanax.
Buckwalter’s records do not mention the overdose, but pharmacy records show that on her next visit, June 21, 2007, the doctor did not prescribe Voyda methadone. Instead, Buckwalter prescribed 100 pills of hydrocodone, a potent narcotic, even though experts said she exhibited obvious drug-seeking behavior.
The hydrocodone and generic Xanax prescriptions continued month by month for a year until July 29, when Buckwalter prescribed Voyda 70 oxycodone pills, the primary ingredient in her main obsession, OxyContin. Six days later she filled a Buckwalter prescription for another 120 oxycodone tablets, and five days later she filled still a Buckwalter prescription for 120 more oxycodone pills.
That’s 310 oxycodone pills from Buckwalter in 11 days.
About two weeks later, on Aug. 26, Voyda and Jonathan got into a heated argument. She grabbed a handgun he kept at the house, put it to her head and pulled the trigger.
A collage of photos from her memorial service shows Voyda cheek to cheek with one friend after another. Voyda’s family said things steadily got worse for Voyda after she started seeing Buckwalter.
“She never would have done it without the drugs,” Voyda’s uncle, Phil Alkazoff, said of the suicide. “The drugs totally changed her personality.”
The four prescription narcotics experts who reviewed Voyda’s medical records for the Sun described Buckwalter’s treatment of the patient as grossly negligent.
Dr. David Kloth, a Connecticut specialist and a past president of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, said Buckwalter’s records showed no medical necessity for the drugs he prescribed to Voyda, who was clearly seeking drugs. One of her primary complaints was “vaginal pain,” the records show, which would not justify the types of narcotics Buckwalter was prescribing, Kloth said.
“This case is disgusting,” Kloth said of Buckwalter’s treatment of Voyda. “This doctor has to be stopped.”
Discussion: 20 comments so far…
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Unbelievable that this man is still prescribing medicine. She needed to be sent to a pain management professional. He continued to give her more and more. She was up to 29.2 pills a day. Also the pharmacies should have stopped this. As Staci's aunt I only wish I could have helped ,living out of state & speaking on the phone she always told me she had the flu again, but she was seeing the doctor. After her death when cleaning her room was the journal found .Why couldn't Buckwalter have said NO enough is enough . You need a differant doctor, he made her worse. That phone call I received was the worst . Planning a funeral was even more disgusting. She was the happiest and most beautiful girl. STOP this man .
When will someone care more about this doctors patients then his rights. He is a hack at best and murderer at worst. How many families have and will lose loved ones before the county, state, or federal government steps in. This one, beautiful, precious life, is one too many. This a good family that goes to work everyday and lives a good life, that is shattered because of this hacks negligence and or malice. It could so easily be anyone of us. One can only hope that this girl and her loved ones pain is not in vain. That someone else's child or spouse will be spared because of this tragedy.
The poor girl went to get help. If the Nevada Medical Board did there job. Staci would still be here with us.How could you not pull his license? Watching his deposition, he clearly thinks he is a pain management doctor. Far from it. Even I know that you don't just prescribe a certain amount each month , it depends on each individual case.
The fact that it has gotten to this point is a sad commentary on our regulatory agencies. Shame on all involved on your lack of concern for whatever reason you tell yourself. It's time for you to end all of the incompetence and step up to the plate and do the right thing! The hoops that have to be jumped through to end this obvious wrong should not be so plentiful.If this man can continue to practice medicine I hope you all remove the mirrors you were once able to look in!!
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I work in a pharmacy that dispenses many meds prescribed by this doctor (and I use the term "doctor" loosely), we have tried reporting him to the board of pharmacy numerous times as well as refused to fill many prescriptions written by him. With the help of his nurse, we have learned that both his father and brother are attorneys for the board of pharmacy so therefore he is basically immune to lawsuit. What happened to this poor girl is terrible but unfortunately the only thing that can be done to stop this murderer of a doctor is to stop going to him. Tell your friends and family to never, ever go to this doctor, I have seen many of my patients go to him for simple neck pains and end up addicts. My condolences go out to the family of Stacy.
Thank you Zig for your condolences . That explains why all are letters and calls are being put on the back burner , when it comes to this monster. She went to get help. He gave her a death sentence. Amazing his brother and father can hide his evil doings. I wish no one to experience the pain of losing a loved one. For all the people who need help. Go see a pain management doctor
Don't you worry Staci. I will help you take the proper action against the Dr. You just walked into the wrong office to get help. He hurt you which is unacceptable in my book. I guarantee I will not stop the fight for all people in your situation. I am here to help all.
Methadone and hydromorphone are being over-prescribed and under-monitored. Where does the State Pharmacy Board's responsibility lie? It's very easy for them to see who is prescribing these huge volumes of narcotics. How many suicides must there be before someone steps in? My condolences on your loss, a beautiful life never fully explored.
He is still at it! A young man walked into a pharmacy with a Buckwalter Oxy prescription on Monday Oct 13 ,and the technician refused to fill it. Thanks for saying no. Sure he may have walked into another pharmacy.Shame on the Dr. and shame on the pharmacy who filled it. Hope you sleep good at night??
Not naming a certain pharmacy located in Henderson because I filed a complaint last month which has gone unanswered . I know for a fact that ( after obtaining Staci's records after her death) In 25 days one pharmacy sold her 730 pills. 180 Hydrocodene 240 generic Xanax & 310 Oxycodene. What the heck were the pharmacists thinking ? Again some are good and some are so stupid. You are giving others a bad reputation.
Nothing compares to you!!!!!!
I am still trying Staci to put him in jail.I will NEVER give up.
Well today is voting day Staci the country is electing a new President and the doctors name should have been put on the ballot to suspend is license , I guess the medical board just doesn't care.I would have suspended it already . What the heck is the board waiting for ????
Still trying Staci . Hopefully Nov 18th ????
Love you
Sorry I couldn't say Merry Christmas to you.
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. She seems like such a sweet girl.
It sounds like the Pharmacy Board is a State agency. In this situation, maybe you could fight this at a federal level since he appears to have connections to the state pharmacy board.
This is a national problem. I live in Florida, my boyfriend is addicted to opiates (oxycotin/oxycodone). Our family put him in detox and rehab yesterday.
She was a young healthy girl and never should have been prescribed opiates. This oxy medicine was created for terminally ill patients, not young vibrant people with pain such as your family member or mine. This needs to be stopped at a higher national level. And, the pharmaceutical companies need to change their formula to make it less addictive.
There are many ways to get ahold of this drug. Negligent doctors at pain clinics are popping up everywhere for the sole purpose of supporting drug habits so the doctor can get rich. Once a person is hooked he/she will seek this drug and can get them from doctor shopping, online (very expensive) and worse: on the streets. Once a person is hooked, it is very difficult to get them off. If anyone has a family member hooked on this. I urge you to get them into a detox program and also rehab. The person will need rehab to get over the cravings for the drugs. Always pay attention to the warning signs and look for symptoms of the drug being in their system. Lying about taking the pills is very common; it is part of the addiction.
I am so sorry for your pain and loss.
God I miss you Staci !!
For all that would like to know Staci's birthday is April 12th she would have been 22 . Such a tragedy that she is gone but NOT forgotten
Unbelievable that the medical board can't find the time to do something , I get the same form letter every couple of months saying the same thing ." The case is currently still in the initial phase of the investigation due to a delay in obtaining the completed
Peer review due to the complexity,legal or medical, of this case" . Although they encourage me to call or write . Give me a break .!I guess Staci has to wait her turn before justice takes place .Shame on all the agencies for not taking action in 2005!!!!!!!