PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A former UPMC doctor is facing charges, accused of prescribing controlled substances to friends and family before they were established patients.

According to investigators, Katie McClelland worked at Gordon Gold and Associates in Cranberry from 2015 to 2021. Police say she prescribed “addictive drugs” to at least four men over an eight-year period.

In 2022, investigators appeared before a grand jury, testifying against McClelland. The documents say their investigation revealed that McClelland rarely wrote prescriptions for controlled substances for her regular patients, but issued them to ex-boyfriends and eventually her husband.

Investigators say none of the men were established as patients at her office when the scripts were first written, and say one of them had been receiving scripts for more than two years before becoming a patient and claims she never asked for his medical records previous.

Another man who police say was her husband died in 2022 of a drug overdose just over a year after meeting McClelland. The papers say he was in recovery and McClelland was aware of his struggles with addiction when they met, but within a month of their relationship, she began writing him scripts for a total of more than 35 prescriptions over the course of five months.

According to the documents, her husband died a week after McClelland pulled him out of rehab to celebrate his birthday with her.

Fayette County Drug and Alcohol says substance use disorder education in the medical community is limited.

“There is such limited education about understanding drug interactions and what can happen when someone is addicted to that drug. And again, they think, ‘It’s OK, I know better,’ and they don’t,” said Brian Reese, deputy director of Fayette County Drug and Alcohol.

He says doctors should always ask their patients about their medical history and show compassion and resources to those in need.

“They have to ask these questions, you know, ‘When was the last time you had a drink?’ When was the last time you took a drug? You know, even marijuana, you know, we tend to downplay that, but we should look at that,” Reese said.

McClelland has been asked to resign from Gordon Gold and Associates in 2021. KDKA-TV reached out to UPMC for comment, but did not hear back by airtime.

McClelland’s attorney sent a statement saying, “The charging documents are allegations only, not established facts or evidence. This case is in the early stages of the legal process and we look forward to presenting our client’s side at the appropriate time.”

McClelland is currently on bail.