Questions, Discontent as Kakheti Doctor Faces Prison Over Psychotropic Drug Prescription

The detention of Maia Kokhtashvili, a neurologist in the Akhmeta municipality of Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region, on allegations of issuing a false psychotropic drug prescription has drawn questions and discontent, as the local community and medical circles have expressed solidarity with the doctor amid suspicions that she may have been the victim of deliberate provocation. The doctor, whose detention was reported on September 11, was granted GEL 50,000 (USD 19,000) bail by a Telavi court the next day and will be released after posting the sum, with her family members reporting that the money was crowdfunded within an hour. Critics suspect political targeting while raising alarms over what they see as the harmful effects of tightened prescription rules.

The Investigation Service of the Finance Ministry announced the detention of Kokhtashvili as part of a series of arrests in connection with “different criminal cases. ” According to the agency, the doctor, “abusing her office, illegally prepared and issued a false prescription to a citizen to obtain a psychotropic substance. ” The investigation is underway under Article 268-2 of the Criminal Code, covering “issuing a forged prescription or other document for the purchase of a psychotropic or potent substance for the purpose of distribution, or its distribution. ” The offense is punishable by a fine or imprisonment for a term of three to six years, with or without a one-year suspension from professional activities or holding office. However, in announcing the detention, the Investigation Service only mentioned imprisonment but not the fine as a potential penalty. The video released by the Investigation Service mixes footage from different cases. One fragment shows a conversation between two people, one of whom is…