Tennesseean: “An attorney for Tennessee Sen. Joey Hensley conceded Monday the politician, a small-town doctor, prescribed opioids to family members and an employee with whom he was in a romantic relationship, in what the state contends is a violation of medical ethics. During opening arguments in a medical discipline proceeding, attorney David Steed said it was well-intentioned, harmless and all but unavoidable for Hensley to prescribe to relatives in a small Tennessee town where he is the only available doctor.”

“Steed confirmed Hensley twice prescribed an opioid painkiller to a nurse at his clinic with whom he was in a romantic relationship. ‘There are not many people in the county who haven’t been to see Dr. Hensley, and she was one of them,’ Steed said, adding a moment later, ‘Half of the county are Hensleys. Everyone there knows everyone. There were multiple relationships and the physician-patient relationship was only one and somewhat incidental to the others.’ The nurse with whom Hensley had a romantic relationship with is identified as his second cousin in case records and courtroom testimony from a separate proceeding. On Monday, a Tennessee Department of Health investigator testified Hensley wrote this woman at least 47 prescriptions for controlled substances from 2011 to 2018, which includes the time period of their romantic relationship. Hensley didn’t require the nurse undergo drug tests to prevent abuse and did not properly document most prescriptions in her medical records, the investigator said.”