MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A North Alabama oncologist is at the center of a recently filed wrongful death lawsuit tied to alleged conduct that led to his medical license being stripped.
Dr. Sammy Becdach had his medical license permanently revoked last year after the Medical Licensure Commission of Alabama found that he provided drugs to a 21-year-old woman he admitted to having a sexual relationship with, who later died of an overdose.
The wrongful death lawsuit names the victim as Katelyn Whitworth. Whitworth’s mother filed the lawsuit on her daughter’s behalf with the Madison County Circuit Court on Dec. 17.
According to the lawsuit, Whitworth’s mother is not only suing Becdach but also Walgreens, which she claims filled fraudulent prescriptions written by Becdach for her daughter in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Decatur, Alabama.
The woman claims the corporation failed to recognize the red flags of drug abuse and did not do its due diligence in verifying whether the prescriptions written for her daughter were legitimate.
A Walgreens spokesperson told News 19 Wednesday evening that the company could not comment on pending litigation.
The victim’s mother claims Becdach began a sexual relationship with her daughter in 2017 while he was married with children.
The lawsuit alleges Becdach wrote prescriptions for Whitworth on several occasions and attempted to legitimize them by orchestrating a fake patient-physician relationship at his office at Clearview Cancer Institute in Decatur. Whitworth did not have cancer, according to the lawsuit.
Whitworth’s mother also claims Becdach continued to use opioids to control her daughter off and on until her death in Dec. 2020.
During a prior investigation, Becdach told the state medical licensure commission he had sex with the victim “on more than one occasion” and wrote at least seven prescriptions for her. The physician also admitted to paying for some of Whitworth’s living expenses, giving her gifts, and engaging in a sexual relationship with her between the fall of 2017 and December 2020.
Based on the results of that investigation, Becdach will no longer be allowed to practice medicine in Alabama.
Court records do not list an attorney for Becdach in this matter.