HAMILTON — Seven years after his clinic was raided by law enforcement, a former Florence doctor is behind bars to begin serving time for overprescribing drugs to multiple people, and the deaths of two patients.
It was in the spring of 2014 that Ravalli County Sheriff's detectives and other regional drug enforcement agencies raided Big Creek Family Medicine and Urgent Care after questions arose over how Dr. Chris Christensen was dispensing prescription drugs.
Initially, Christensen faced 400 felony counts, including negligent homicide for the deaths of two of his patients. In 2017, Christensen was convicted on 22 counts, including the negligent homicides.
But since then, he had remained free during a series of court motions and appeals to the Montana Supreme Court.
However, this week, Missoula County District Court Judge Jason Marks refused Christensen's latest request to extend his release, ordering him to report to court by this Friday morning.
Ravalli County's jail roster shows Christensen reported for booking on Friday.
Christensen will be serving a 10-year prison sentence.
Watch Dennis Bragg's 2017 story on Chris Christensen below.
