MURDER CHARGE

Maryland Dentist Accused of Killing Patient-Turned-Lover With Lethal Drugs

Dr. James Ryan, an oral surgeon, supplied several controlled substances to his girlfriend before she overdosed, police allege.

A dentist in Germantown, Maryland has been charged with second-degree murder for supplying a cocktail of powerful prescription drugs to a patient-turned-lover who later overdosed. Montgomery County Police said in a statement that the victim, Sarah Harris, was initially a patient of Dr. James Ryan, an oral surgeon who led a practice called Evolution Oral Surgery. She then started working for Ryan as a surgical technician in late 2020 and, by Jan. 2021, the pair were dating. She moved in with him shortly after but fatally overdosed on Jan. 26, police said. “Ryan had been providing controlled substances, including Propofol, Ketamine, Diasepam (sic), and midazolam, to Harris,” the statement said. He was arrested on Tuesday and was being held in the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit without bond.