Tennessee State Senator Joey Hensley (R) is making headlines for all the wrong reasons after prescribing opiods to his second cousin who also happened to be his lover.
Hensley, an author on the state's infamous, anti-LGBTQ "Don't Say Gay" bill, apparently has no problem with committing medical malpractice to supply his second cousin/lover with drugs.
@natalie_allison “Reached for comment, the Senator denied the accusations against him, clarifying that ‘I’m not aga… https://t.co/pdVvuKd33g— Tyler King (@Tyler King)1603751961.0
Sen. Joey Hensley, who was prescribing opioids to a woman who was simultaneously his employee, second cousin and lo… https://t.co/4ltlNUYWzQ— Natalie Allison (@Natalie Allison)1603747355.0
Tennessee Sen. Joey Hensley, a small-town doctor and staunchly conservative lawmaker, admitted through an attorney… https://t.co/zDGg94Xien— Brett Kelman (@Brett Kelman)1603744857.0
Hensley's lawyer offered a simple defense of the State Senator's prescriptions: he's the only doctor around.
"There are not many people in the county who haven't been to see Dr. Hensley, and she was one of them. Half of the county are Hensleys. Everyone there knows everyone."
"There were multiple relationships and the physician-patient relationship was only one and somewhat incidental to the others."
@natalie_allison "Half of the county are Hensleys. Everyone there knows everyone. There were multiple relationships… https://t.co/eWYNvD58qM— Lil (@Lil)1603751688.0
@natalie_allison How is this not criminal? He was basically a drug dealer! 😱 Looks like R’s are getting caught doin… https://t.co/zTgWWC4wfN— #TrumpIsAProjectionPrincess (@#TrumpIsAProjectionPrincess)1603754922.0
Investigations reveal that from 2011 to 2018, Hensley wrote 47 prescriptions for opioids to his second cousin/lover, never requiring any additional tests to screen for addiction and often failing to record his prescriptions in her medical file.
EDITOR: Haha, you might wanna throw in an Oxford comma just in case somebody might think that Joey Hensley’s employ… https://t.co/bKJx50Oz20— Mike Beauvais (@Mike Beauvais)1603752940.0
Sen Joey Hensley, a physician, is the state rep of his town of 3700 in TN. He prescribed meds to his relatives over… https://t.co/NsCwoF2Pft— 🗽sassenach 🎃💛🐝 #JoeBiden🥁 (@🗽sassenach 🎃💛🐝 #JoeBiden🥁)1603769964.0
Though Hensley's behavior isn't criminal, state health officials have charged him with violating medical standards which bar physicians from prescribing drugs to their own family members.
It's taken 3 and a half years, but the state is finally having a hearing today on whether to revoke state Sen. Joey… https://t.co/NBgv8QRUNn— Cari Wear a Damn Mask Gervin (@Cari Wear a Damn Mask Gervin)1603725129.0
TN state Sen. Joey Hensley (R) is under investigation by a medical review board for providing opioids to family mem… https://t.co/2hc3JnW9uQ— Angelux (@Angelux)1603816799.0
If found guilty, Hensley could lose his ability to prescribe medicine.
@natalie_allison @Andy_Lofgren Wait, what? https://t.co/aYFEma40TY— KSR (@KSR)1603754842.0
@natalie_allison This tweet has everything! https://t.co/rrTOG3zS4k— LJ (@LJ)1603754101.0
Even if Hensley manages to dodge any punishment related to medical malpractice, he's likely to face retribution from the voters in his town, where large newspaper ads have recently featured a list of the allegations against him with the headline "We Can Do Better."
One has to imagine that's probably true.