CONROE, Texas – A Montgomery County doctor has been arrested in connection to a crash that killed a family of four on Sunday.
Ronald Cooper, 68, was arrested and charged with four counts of intoxicated manslaughter and two counts of intoxicated assault after causing a multivehicle crash that killed a father, mother and their two young children.
According to court documents, Cooper was under the influence of multiple drugs prescribed to him at a pain management clinic owned by Dr. Rezik Saqer.
Those drugs included oxycodone, opioid and Valium.
Documents show Saqer, 61, prescribed oxycodone and Valium to Cooper eight days after being prescribed hydrocodone by another doctor, which is in violation of the law.
It's a pill mill case. Montgomery Co D.A. Bret Ligon said. "We've arrested a doctor who's pedaling poison to people here to people here in Montgomery county, not only this county but other counties."
Dr. Saqer owns and operates Integra Pharmacy and medical clinic located at 3074 College Park Dr. in Conroe.
Cooper filled prescriptions written at the pharmacy on multiple occasions.
Investigators say Saqer failed to follow rules of the Texas Medical Board when issuing Cooper prescriptions, and failed to have a Pain Management Agreement for Cooper to follow.
Between Jan. 9, 2015, and Aug. 19, 2015, Saqer or doctors working at his clinic wrote prescriptions for Cooper providing for 1,306 single doses of valium, oxycodone or hydrocodone.
In 2014, the DEA Hosuton Tactical Diversion Squad began investigating Saqer's Texas Pain Soluitons and Steeplechase Pharmacy in Harris County, and Integra medical Clinic and Integra Pharmacy in Montgomery county as a drug trafficking organization.
Between Jan. 8, 2014, and Sept. 14, 2015, agents contend Saqer prescribed 907,238 dosage units of controlled substances, primarily oxycodone, fentanyl, hydrocodone, and morphine, with cash revenues estimated at $5,796,662.
Conroe police and DEA agents served search warrants at Saqer's clinic in Conroe Monday, where they allege they found hydrocodone, morphine and oxycodone illegally kept in his office, and signed but otherwise blank prescription forms.
Saqer was charged with possession of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison on conviction, and with diversion of a controlled substance, a state jail felony.
Saqer posted a $50,000 bond Wednesday and was released from jail.
The clinic was closed Wednesday. Patients who showed up for appointments were turned away. One of them was Tina Crim.
"I'm a patient so I would. He runs DPS reports, you don't just go in there and get medication." Crim said.
The fatal accident happened around 12:48 p.m. Sunday in the 15600 block of Highway 105 near Tejas Boulevard.
According to Conroe Police Department, Cooper was driving westbound on Highway 105 in a 2011 Hyundai Azera and rear-ended a green 2011 Toyota Echo.
Roland Sedlmeier, 49, Melinda Sedlmeier, 42, Harley Sedlmeier, 6, and Sofie Sedlmeier, 4, were in the Toyota.
The family's vehicle spun out of control and into oncoming traffic in the eastbound lanes.
The Toyota then slammed into a 2015 Jeep Wrangler, and both vehicles flipped on their sides.
The Sedlmeier family was killed.
Two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, who were in the Jeep, went to Conroe Regional Medical Center with minor injuries.
They were treated and released.
Cooper's wife and daughter told KPRC 2 he was not drunk during the time of the crash.
They did not want to be interviewed on camera but said the crash is a "terrible tragedy" and they want to give their "condolences to the families of the victims." Cooper's wife told KPRC 2 "he was crying" when she spoke to him on the phone after the crash.
According to documents, on the day of the crash, a sergeant investigating at the scene recognized that Cooper showed signs of impairment.
The sergeant said Cooper's speech was thick and slurred, and his demeanor was very lethargic.
The sergeant noted that Cooper's pupils were constricted and he appeared to be "nodding off," struggling with maintaining consciousness.
Investigators say Cooper told the sergeant that he took oxycodone, a narcotic analgesic, and Valium, a depressant, before going to bed around 10:30 p.m. the night before.
He said the next morning, he took more oxycodone and Valium, in addition to blood pressure medication when he woke up.
Documents state that Saqer owns and operates Integra Pharmacy located at 3074 College Park Dr. in Conroe.
Cooper filled prescriptions written at the pharmacy on multiple occasions.
Investigators say Saqer failed to follow rules of the Texas Medical Board when issuing Cooper prescriptions, and failed to have a Pain Management Agreement for Cooper to follow.
Texas Medical Board rules state that a proper patient-physician relationship for treatment of chronic pain requires the physician to establish and inform the patient of the physician's expectations that are necessary for patient compliance.
The rule also requires that "the medical director of a pain management clinic shall establish quality assurance procedures to include at a minimum a written drug screening policy and compliance for patients receiving chronic opioids."
Investigators say had Saqer complied with the policy, he would have caught the hydrocodone prescribed by the previous doctor on Aug. 11.
Saqer was arrested late Tuesday by the DEA Diversion Investigation Unit and the Conroe Police Department, along with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and the Montgomery County Pct. 2 Constables Office.
More information was found in regards to patients at Saqer's pain management clinic.
Documents show in late 2014, Houston DEA received information from the Montgomery County Forensic Services Department regarding a recently deceased patient that was under the care of Saqer.
Documents stated that multiple drugs were found in the decedent's blood were prescribed by Saqer and were a contributing factor in the person's death.
During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that seven Montgomery County residents who were under the care of doctors at Saqer's clinic all potentially overdosed.
In at least one of those deaths, a doctor had administered morphine to a patient.
KPRC 2 spoke with a previous patient of Saqer about seeing the doctor for five years for pain management. She asked KPRC 2 to conceal her identity.
"I was on 120 Narco, which is the hydrocodone, and that seemed to be controlling my pain real good," she said.
The patient said he eventually started prescribing her morphine and lowered her hydrocodone.
"100 milligrams time release of Morphine, and I took it every 12 hours."
She stopped seeing Saqer in July when she got a letter from his office, saying they no longer accepted her Medicaid insurance.
The patient told KPRC 2 she saw Saqer's face on the news, arrested for prescribing medication to the man who hit and killed a family of four in a tragic car accident.
According to the district attorney, there were 63 overdose deaths from August 2014 to August 2015 in Montgomery County. Thirty two of those overdoses were prescription-drug related.
The DA says seven of those patients were under the care of doctors at Saqer's clinic. In at least one of those deaths, the patient was administered morphine.
"I am devastated for all the people who are going through what I am going through, but I am scared to death for myself, too." the patient said.
KPRC 2 also learned that Cooper was charged with driving while intoxicated in 2008 in Walker County, a charge that was later dismissed.
The intoxication manslaughter charge against Cooper is a second-degree felony and has a range of punishment from two to 20 years behind bars.
Aggravated assault also carries up to a 20-year sentence.
If anyone has any information about this doctor or has been a patient or employee of his, please contact law enforcement officials at 936-539-7800.