Federal Charges Filed Against OKC Doctor In Connection With 3 Opioid Deaths

A prominent Oklahoma City pain doctor could face life behind bars and millions in fines if convicted in the deaths of three patients.

A federal grand jury indicted Dr. Donald Kim on 154 charges, including three patient deaths.

The charges claim Kim “prescribed large amounts of opioids… without medical necessity and outside the usual course of professional medical practice.” Investigators said Kim routinely exceeded guidelines for safe dosages.

Kim is a trustee on the Oklahoma City University board of trustees. According to his OCU biography, he is also on the board of the Oklahoma Pain Society and the Oklahoma United Methodist Church. Those two organizations did not respond to News 9’s requests for comment.

He now faces 151 counts of “Distribution of Controlled Substances” and three counts of “Distribution of Controlled Substances Resulting in Death.”

“I believe he was directly responsible for the decline of my grandmother’s health,” Robbie Thomas said.

Thomas wants prosecutors to add the January death of his grandmother, Lillian Rogers, to the list of charges. He said he feuded with Kim over what he called high opioid prescriptions written to his grandmother.

“The last instance (Kim and I) had together, I actually walked in and lost my temper and threatened them with an attorney because I believed malpractice was going on,” Thomas said.

The Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure said Kim remains fully licensed and has never had any past disciplinary actions taken against him.

According to court documents, two of Kim’s patients died of “acute combined drug toxicity” and one of “acute fentanyl toxicity.”

Kim could face up to life in prison for each of the three deaths. Each of the 154 counts could carry a fine of up to $1-million fine per count.