Arlington Doctor Charged In 'Conspiracy' To Over-Prescribe Oxycodone To Patients

ARLINGTON, VA — An Arlington doctor has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to distributing more oxycodone pills than her patients needed for more than a decade.

Kirsten Van Steenberg Ball, 68, a primary care physician in Arlington, faces one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and 21 counts of distribution of oxycodone, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia said Friday.

According to the indictment, Ball conspired with her office manager to shield the fact that she was dispensing vast quantities of oxycodone to her patients — “contrary to ordinary standards of medical care” — from law enforcement and regulatory authorities.

In the indictment, Ball’s office manager, Candie Marie Calix, 40, of Front Royal used an alias to disguise the fact that Calix was, herself, a patient of Ball. According to the indictment, Ball prescribed her office manager about 50,000 oxycodone pills over a period of 10 years.

“Calix did not, however, function as a typical office manager,” prosecutors wrote. “Instead, Calix recruited individuals — including Calix’s mother, Kendall Sovereign, and several other members of Calix’s family — to become ‘patients’ of Ball.”

The Virginia Department of Health Professions investigated Ball twice, once in 2015 and once in 2021, according to the indictment.

Ball was investigated by the Virginia Board of Medicine from 2014-2015 for how she prescribed opioids. After its investigation, the board required Ball to complete a 20-hour class on controlled substances. Her medical license was then restored after completing the class.

The Virginia Board of Medicine revoked her license again in 2022, when federal prosecutors began investigating Calix.

According to the indictment, Ball prescribed one patient as many as 360 oxycodone 30-mg tablets per month. Calix recruited at least 12 people to be “patients” of Ball, even though she knew them to be addicted to opioids, according to prosecutors.

If convicted, Balls faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.

Calix was sentenced to seven years in prison last September for conspiring to distribute oxycodone.