Police Arrest Urgent Care Doc on Sex Charges

GOODLETTSVILLE, Tenn.—Local police raided the Urgent Care Clinic last week and arrested Dr. Charles Cowden, 74, and charged him with rape by fraud and sexual battery by fraud charges involving four different women in their 20s and 30s, reported WSMV-TV Nashville.

A federal investigation also has been launched against Cowden, who is out on bail, on accusations that he illegally distributed Lortab, Xanax and Soma to patients. Authorities are investigating if TennCare was being used to pay for the drugs or if the drugs were being sold or provided for in exchange for sexual favors. The current investigation is being handled by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and the Drug Division.

Cowden was temporarily or permanently barred from practicing at four different hospitals in 1988 for what's described as erratic behavior, inability to perform surgery and habitual intoxication that affected his ability to practice medicine. He was put on probation by the state for five years, couldn't perform surgery and had to provide drug screening for two years. In 1993, that probation was removed and the restriction lifted.