From Bill Freeman

State Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) is in the news again, and I’m not surprised. Is anyone? 

In December 2014, Hensley — a physician with a practice in Hohenwald — was accused of unethically prescribing opioids and other controlled substances to his family members, including his second cousin, with whom he was having sex. Hensley’s cousin also worked for him as a nurse and was his patient. In November, Hensley’s medical license was put on probation when the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners unanimously found him in violation of medical ethical standards. Last week we read that the senator is facing “conflicting testimony” relating to how long his relationship with his cousin actually went on and how often he prescribed the drugs to her. 

But we’ve heard not a peep from Gov. Bill Lee, or other Republican leaders, regarding this unacceptable behavior from an elected official. Knowing the kind of person the governor says he is when it comes to moral standards, ethics and family values, I’m surprised that he and the Republican Party leadership have not taken a position. Surely he’s reading and hearing the same news as the rest of us. 

For instance, The Tennessean notes that during a discipline hearing before the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners, an investigator testified that between 2011 and 2018, Hensley wrote his cousin 47 prescriptions for controlled substances. Hensley had claimed that his relationship with his cousin was short-lived and that only two prescriptions fell into that time frame, and the medical board went easy — they fined Hensley just $2,000 and limited the time his medical license was put on probation to just three years. Now sworn documents from his cousin’s divorce are raising questions as to Hensley’s honesty. According to his cousin’s statements, their relationship went on for years, not months. In at least one case, the senator and his cousin stayed at a hotel in Nashville while he was in town for legislative duties, and the bill was presumably paid with legislative per diem, or state dollars. The overnight stay took place two years after the senator claimed the relationship had ended. 

A doctor may prescribe for family and friends — or even for himself — but it is certainly not recommended nor encouraged by professional regulatory boards. There are conduct rulings that subject physicians to disciplinary measures if they prescribe narcotics. If the senator was indeed in a romantic relationship with his cousin for years and prescribing narcotics the entire time, that certainly could have changed the disciplinary actions of the board. So this “conflicting testimony” is being revisited in an effort to find the real truth of the situation. If Hensley lied under oath while appearing before the board, according to The Tennessean, the Tennessee Department of Health “would be responsible for re-examining his testimony.” The examiners board could restart the investigation by filing a new complaint with the health department — and invoke a harsher punishment. 

The cousin has testified in court that Hensley is her only doctor other than a cardiologist, and that he has regularly prescribed her the hydrocodone-acetaminophen pill Lortab — a Schedule II controlled substance — for “chronic back pain.” Further testimony revealed that her parents told her she needed to “rein in” her Lortab usage, but she argued she was only taking what Hensley had prescribed. 

The oddity in this case is that Hensley serves on the Tennessee Senate’s Health and Welfare Committee, where he considers legislation that regulates opioids. He knows the dangers of addiction, and knows that Tennessee sees many deaths as a result of opioid use. In 2017, nearly 1,800 Tennesseans died from drug overdose, including 1,268 from opioids, according to the Tennessee Department of Health. I am struggling to reconcile this man’s behavior with his sworn oaths.

I also find it puzzling that Gov. Lee has not spoken up. To be silent on something like this is not good, and to me, implies consent or perhaps lack of concern about private behavior of public officials. 

This situation is about leadership, not politics. It’s about a guy who has misused his position for personal gain and who has disrespected all those in his district by doing so. It’s what some folks before my time would have called an abomination. This does not seem to be a “take one for the team” issue. It seems more of a “get this guy off the team” issue.

Bill Freeman 

Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post, and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County.