US EditionKennebunk Doctor Sentenced After Illegally Distributing Opioids
- On May 14, 2025, Michael Kestner, CEO of Pain MD, was handed an 18-month federal prison term in Nashville, Tennessee.
- The sentence followed his conviction for leading a decade-long scheme that used unnecessary and ineffective injections to defraud Medicare and exploit opioid-dependent patients.
- Pain MD operated up to 20 clinics mainly in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, administering about 700,000 costly injections that contained no steroids and targeted incorrect body parts.
- Judge Aleta Trauger characterized Kestner as a merciless entrepreneur who supported an extravagant way of living by manipulating medical staff into coercing patients to receive ineffective injections.
- Though federal prosecutors sought nearly 20 years, the sentence was reduced due to Kestner’s age, hemochromatosis, and concerns about prison healthcare, sparking outrage among former patients.
19 Articles
19 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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