A lawsuit alleging an Owings Mills doctor drugged and sexually molested a client has been transferred from Baltimore City to Baltimore County Circuit Court.
In the lawsuit, a female patient accuses Dr. Nelson Hendler, 62, of purposefully prescribing her too much pain medication.
“Because [she] was hopelessly addicted to pain medications, she begged Dr. Hendler to give her narcotics,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in Baltimore County last week. “Dr. Hendler agreed to provide the narcotics and ?free? counseling in exchange for sexual favors.”
The accuser is one of three patients who say Hendler engaged them in sexual misconduct.
In February, Hendler, an award-winning psychiatrist, pleaded guilty to a drug distribution charge in Baltimore County Circuit Court ? but maintained his innocence and avoided a conviction.
Hendler, who was being pressured with a federal indictment, entered an Alford plea to one count of possession with the intent to distribute drugs, including OxyContin ? meaning he denied any involvement in criminal activity but acknowledged prosecutors have enough evidence to convict him.
Judge Kathleen Cox sentenced Hendler to probation before judgment, which allowed him to avoid a conviction. Cox then ordered him to serve 18 months of probation.
The Maryland Board of Physicians suspended Hendler?s license on Feb. 6, 2006, when it concluded he distributed returned drugs to other patients and had sexual misconduct with three patients.
Last year, police searched Hendler?s Mensana Clinic in Stevenson and found 5,800 pills, including OxyContin, that should have been destroyed, officers said.
