Louis Hampers: Feds indict controversial doctor for allegedly writing 100s of fake prescriptions

Louis Hampers.

Louis Hampers, the Children's Hospital doctor who was the subject of the recent Westword feature "When This Physician Gets the Fever, it's the Women He Dates Who Can't Shake the Bug," was arrested this morning on charges of writing hundreds of phony prescriptions. An indictment alleges that on 654 occasions between January 2009 and April 2010, Hampers used five aliases and eight fake patient names to fraudulently obtain drugs such as generic Vicodin, Valium and Ambien at pharmacies mostly in Denver and Aurora.

Click here to read the Dr. Louis Hampers indictment.

Hampers, 45, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on August 26, according to the United States Attorney's Office. But the indictment was sealed until Hampers was arrested this morning in Virginia. A Google search indicates that one of his two brothers, both of whom are doctors, lives in that state.

In nearly a year and a half of writing phony prescriptions, Hampers obtained more than 20,000 tablets of Hydrocodone, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which investigated the case against him. "The large amount of drugs Dr. Hampers is alleged to have acquired illegally is a concern regarding the public safety," DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Jeffrey Sweetin said in a statement. "Although rare, drug violations involving medical professionals do sometimes occur."

If convicted, Hampers could face up to four years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for each of the 654 counts of "conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by fraud and deceit." Added together, that's a whole heck of a lot of jail time.

While the federal charges may be Hampers's biggest problem, they aren't the only trouble he's facing. Two weeks ago, Hampers voluntarily gave up his medical license pending two investigations by the Colorado Medical Board.

He's also embroiled in a civil lawsuit with 9News reporter Deborah Sherman, whom he met on an adult dating website. Sherman won a restraining order against Hampers in April after he harassed her when Sherman broke a second date with him.