Dr. George David Gowder, Jamie Lee Harkins co-defendants in Union County 70 count indictment

Dr. George David Gowder, age 60, an emergency room doctor and graduate of the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, had approximately 36 years of experience when he was arrested in 2016. Dr. Gowder was a Board Member on the Union General Hospital Authority (UGHA) Board and the Board of Union General Hospital, Inc., which controlled UGHA. Somewhere along the line, Dr. Gowder got way off track and became ensconced in a nasty business. It appears that other Union General Hospital Board Members and some Gowder family members are involved as well; they have been arrested, but not yet indicted.

Dr. George David Gowder was indicted by a Union County Grand Jury on Thursday, April 20, 2017 on 54 counts of Fraud in Obtaining Controlled Substance (Hydrocodone, Oxycodone), seven counts of Unauthorized Distributions and Dispensation (Hydrocodone), four counts of Forgery in the First Degree (forging the name of another doctor on prescriptions for Oxycodone), and one count of Violation of Georgia Controlled Substances Act (possession of controlled substance [Hydrocodone] with intent to distribute).

36 year old Jamie Lee Harkins, co-defendant in this case, was indicted on two counts of Fraud in Obtaining Controlled Substance (presenting prescriptions in another person’s name) and two counts of Violation of Georgia Controlled Substances Act (unlawful possession of a controlled substance [Oxycodone]). Jamie Lee Harkins is the daughter of Virginia Lou Harkins, who is the sister of Dr. George David Gowder.

Fetch Your News is following this story and will report updates as they become available.