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Henrico physician accused of illegally distributing opioids requests jury trial

Posted at 9:39 AM, Mar 02, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-02 09:39:35-05

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A Henrico physician accused of illegally distributing opioids will go on trial in December.

Dr. Zeljko Stjepanovic pleaded not guilty during an appearance in Richmond federal court Friday, and requested a trial by jury.

Last month, he was indicted on 10 counts of felony distribution of painkillers, including oxycodone.

Stjepanovic has worked at pain management clinics in both Henrico, Chesterfield, and Fredericksburg.

Prosecutors allege that between October 2014 and May 2018, he wrote prescriptions for “numerous persons without assessing the individual needs of those persons, and without any legitimate medical purpose.”

According to court records obtained by WTVR CBS 6, in August of 2017, Stjepanovic wrote a prescription for tramadol for an undercover officer who visited his clinic, even though he did not conduct a physical examination of the woman.

Prosecutors allege he did the same thing for another undercover officer in January of 2018, this time writing a prescription for oxycodone.

In a criminal complaint, DEA Special Agent Charles Connelly wrote that Stjepanovic’s notes for that visit stated that the woman had complained of “bilateral stabbing, burning, tingling, pins/needles,” but the undercover officer said that none of those things were discussed during her meeting with the doctor.

The Virginia Board of Medicine reports that Stjepanovic currently splits his time between clinics in Midlothian and the near West End.

He graduated from medical school in Serbia in 1984, and completed a general surgery internship at MCV in 2009.

Stjepanovic is currently free on bond. Judge Henry Hudson has scheduled a Dec. 2 date for the trial.

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