The federal government is dropping charges of illegal distribution of prescription painkillers and other controlled substances against a Hilo physician.
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor ruled Friday in Honolulu that Dr. Ernest Bade is incompetent to stand trial, based on a court-appointed psychiatrist’s report that concluded the 80-year-old general practitioner suffers from dementia.
Four co-defendants, Marie Benevides, Yvonne Caitano, Sheena Strong and Theresa Saltus, still face federal charges.
Benevides, 80, pleaded guilty to a single charge of conspiracy to contain a controlled substance last month. In a deal with prosecutors, the government is dropping other charges against Benevides, who is Caitano’s mother and Strong’s grandmother.
Caitano, Strong and Saltus are still scheduled for trial in October.
A federal grand jury indicted Bade and the women, who were both Bade’s office workers and patients, on numerous prescription drug-related charges.
The women flew to Maui to obtain the drugs because Hilo pharmacies stopped filling Bade’s prescriptions, the government said.
A grand jury indicted Bade and the four women in October and they were arrested by the Drug Enforcement Administration in Hilo.