PETERS TOWNSHIP (KDKA) — A local doctor is going to trial for allegedly prescribing large doses of powerful drugs to patients who didn’t need them.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Dr. Oliver Herndon pleaded not guilty to seven felony counts.

“I am innocent and I trust that I have excellent legal counsel,” he told KDKA-TV.

Police say he prescribed heavy narcotics to seemingly healthy patients so often that some pharmacies in the area stopped filling the prescriptions.

But others say Dr. Henrdon is a wonderful doctor.

“We heard from a patient today who came down on her own to testify on behalf of Dr. Herndon,” Mark Rush, a defense attorney, said. “In fact, her testimony was to the effect that he saved her life on several occasions.”

More than 80 local pharmacies stopped filling Dr. Herndon’s prescriptions and 26 contacted the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Undercover police officers say he also prescribed them pain medicines.

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