Oral surgeon charged with murder for supplying his girlfriend with addictive anesthesia through IV

An oral surgeon accused of plying his patient-turned-girlfriend with addictive anesthetic drugs including ketamine through an IV has been arrested and charged with her murder, after she died from an overdose at his home. 

James Ryan, 48, was apprehended by Montgomery County police at his practice in Germantown, Maryland, and was being held in jail without bond Tuesday, following the January death of 25-year-old Sarah Harris, a former patient and employee of his, cops said. 

Ryan has since been charged with second-degree ‘depraved heart’ murder, as well as six felony counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, and one count of reckless endangerment. 

He faces a maximum of 78 years behind bars if convicted, cops said. 

Police say Harris, who had been living with the doctor at his Clarksburg home for seven months before her death, sank into addiction as Ryan steadily supplied  her with an array of powerful prescription drugs both intravenously and with injections.

Following Harris’ fatal overdose, Harris’ older sister, Rachel, was able to access her phone and social media accounts, police said, and found the incriminating text messages between her and Ryan.

Police say Harris – who had been living with the doctor at his Clarksburg home for seven months before her death – sank into addiction as Ryan plied her with an array of powerful prescription drugs such as propofol and ketamine, both intravenously and with injections

She put the exchanges in a binder, and handed them over to Montgomery County police.    

‘The conversations are very frank and often depict Sarah Harris asking Ryan to procure/obtain different drugs,’ detectives remarked in the complaint.

The doctor regularly fed the woman ketamine, a type of anesthetic, intravenously, narcotics detectives said. High amounts of the drug were found in her system following her death January 26.

The doctor illegally obtained the drugs from his practice.

Ryan is not accused of premeditation, police said, but instead showed ‘an extreme indifference’ to her life by continually providing her with drugs he knew to be dangerous – hence the depraved heart charge. 

Text messages between the two recovered by police and detailed in the criminal complaint against the doctor show a drug-addled Harris appearing to have a bad reaction to the anesthetic.

‘I feel so disoriented,’ Harris texted Ryan on September 28, the criminal complaint against the doctor reads.

‘It’s the ketamine, the combo (with) maybe the neurontin,’ Ryan assured her, referring to the IV-implemented anesthesia and a medication commonly used for nerve pain. 

‘They have interactions,’ the doctor said. ‘Is it hard to walk?’

‘No,’ Harris responded, ‘just feel like I’m kinda floating.’

Harris died on January 26, after overdosing on the ketamine, as well as the sedative Diazepam. Police said Ryan provided her both drugs.

Detectives asserted in the filing: ‘After moving in with Ryan, Sarah Harris developed and sank into a serious addiction involving multiple controlled dangerous substances provided by Ryan.’  

Officers described the doctor’s actions, including setting up a home delivery system for Harris before they moved in together, cops said, as ‘tantamount to an open supply’ of drugs. 

‘Sarah Harris developed an ever-worsening addiction that was continuously fed over the months by Ryan,’ lawmen wrote.

Ryan and the victim began dating in early 2021, according to lawmen, after she visited his office to have her wisdom teeth removed.

The doctor, pictured here at his Maryland practice, regularly fed the woman ketamine, a type of anesthetic,  and other sedatives intravenously, narcotics detectives said. High amounts of the drug were found in her system following her death January 26

Ryan, pictured fourth from left, began dating the victim in early 2021, lawmen say, after she visited his office to have her wisdom teeth removed. Shortly after, the dentist offered her a job at his practice. She moved in with the doctor later that year, cops said. Officers arrested him as he arrived at his office Tuesday

Shortly after, the dentist offered her a job at his practice. She moved in with the doctor later that year, cops said, during which time relatives grew concerned over the woman’s drug use.   

Harris’ family first suspected she was using drugs after noticing her wearing long sleeves at family gatherings despite very hot weather, suggesting she was hiding needle marks. 

The complaint describes one such instance that took place in October, where two relatives went to Harris’ house and found her ‘in an altered state.’ 

One of the relatives forced her to roll up her sleeves, detectives described, where they saw both of her arms ‘covered with needle marks and bruises that were in various stages of healing.’   

The text messages between Harris and Ryan detailed how Ryan would then offer Harris an in-depth itinerary of drugs and medical apparatus he planned to bring home from his practice, including IV bags, needles, and an IV pole.   

‘I don’t think you’ll find a vein. I’m so dehydrated,’ Harris wrote to Ryan in one exchange on September 27. The doctor responded by advising the victim to drink water and take the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

The next day, Harris texted Ryan, court documents show, telling the doctor that she had a good night’s sleep but felt out of it.

‘I think the ketamine works well for you,’ Ryan responded, telling her to drink more water to flush the drug out of her system.

In one exchange, Ryan seemed to instruct Harris to come to his office, and retrieve drugs and medical supplies from the trunk of his car.

Another indicated that Ryan injected Harris with ketamine while she was sleeping. 

While Ryan did not premeditatedly kill Harris, police conceded, he instead showed ‘an extreme indifference’ to her life by continually providing her with drugs he knew to be dangerous – hence the depraved heart charge.

Ryan. who says he’s been doing dental surgery for 20 years, is involved in clinical research surrounding infant and pediatric care. If convicted of the charges against him, he could spend 78 years in prison

Detectives describe in the filing another exchange showing Harris’ diminishing state, which Ryan assured her was a side-effect of the ketamine.  

‘We went to a hockey game last night and then went home,’ Ryan wrote to Harris in December, roughly a month before she passed.

‘You slept all night and every time you woke up you were sobbing. I couldn’t understand what you were saying because of the ketamine. I just hugged you.’

Officers also detailed an Instagram exchange Harris had with a friend in December, in which she admitted to overdosing on ketamine but narrowly surviving.

‘I’ve been in a bad place,’ she wrote at the time.

Other messages recovered by police show Harris asking Ryan for certain drugs, which he would provide and instruct her on how to use.

Police said Tuesday during a press conference addressing the case that began investigating Ryan after they were called to the pair’s residence following Harris’ overdose.  

Court records describe responding EMTs’ unsuccessful efforts to revive Harris. 

Ryan told the officers he found Harris unresponsive on a downstairs couch after waking up that morning.

Narcotics investigators recovered two bottles containing residue of injectable propofol, four bottles with residue of injectable sedative midazolam, and one bottle partially filled with injectable ketamine, court records reveal.

‘These bottles are not the type of medication that would normally be dispensed from a pharmacy, and are usually reserved for clinical, medical settings,’ Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said Tuesday.

Investigators also recovered an assortment of hypodermic needles, syringes, and tourniquets at the home. 

A medical examiner ruled the nature of Harris’ death as ‘undetermined,’ and caused by ketamine and diazepam intoxication, the complaint shows.   

Cops said Tuesday that the 10 months worth of text and social media messages, along with family testimony, helped them build a case against Ryan over the course of 10 weeks.

Police are currently looking into whether Ryan may have provided drugs to others as well.

‘There could be other victims as it relates to this, that he could be distributing to other individuals, we have not taken that off the table as a possibility,’ Jones said during Tuesday’s press conference.

Cops, meanwhile, allege Ryan too used the drugs. 

‘I’m trying not to do so much, and taper to nothing. Hard in this stupid area,’ he wrote to Harris on September 7, the filing reveals.

The document also described an instance where Ryan’s employees found him asleep in his office. The doctor was so unresponsive, cops said, that staffers needed ammonia smelling salts to wake him up.

On his practice’s website, Ryan said he’s been a dental surgeon for 20 years, and also is involved in clinical research surrounding infant and pediatric care. 

‘Our philosophy really is treat patients the way that we want to be treated ourselves,’ Ryan tells prospective patients in a video on the site.

‘I don’t think we do anything that’s above and beyond,’ he continues, in a video that shows the oral surgeon smiling with and directing his team.  

‘I just think that every practice should do what we do. Connections and making a difference — that’s the point of everything. So it feels really good to be able to do that.’

An obituary for Harris posted by her family, mourned her loss, without mentioning the overdose. 

‘Sarah had a passion for learning, drawing, and spending time with her puppy Winston,’ the obituary reads. ‘She had a personality that would light up a room and she carried a radiant smile along with it. She marched to the beat of her own drum and was like no other. She loved fiercely and passionately.’ 

Ryan, meanwhile, is expected in court on Wednesday.