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A Kansas doctor was sentenced to life in prison for selling illegal opioid prescriptions that resulted in a patient’s death.

Steven Henson, 57, who worked as a doctor at the Kansas Men’s Clinic in Wichita, gave “dangerous, maximum strength prescriptions to people who did not need them” the Department of Justice announced Friday.

Following a trial in October, Henson was convicted on a slew of charges, including distributing prescription drugs outside medical practice, unlawfully distributing drugs including oxycode, methadone and alprazolam, presenting false records to investigators, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

Henson was also charged with prescribing methadone and alprazolam, which resulted in the death of a patient, who died July 24, 2015.

Prosecutors said Henson prescribed medicine “without a medical need,” without performing a medical exam, and gave patients prescriptions in exchange for cash. Additionally, Henson wrote prescriptions for later dates and for people other than the patients who came to visit him.

He would reportedly ask patients if they had pain, and when they responded “yes” he would write them a prescription — without further question or examination, according to the Department of Justice.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Marten stated Henson’s prescriptions were “likely to lead to addiction,” and sold the opioids at such high prices that patients would be forced to fund their addiction by “selling some of the drugs to others.”

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said he wants Henson’s case to “send a message to physicians and the healht care community,” and sent a warning to others from following in Henson’s footsteps.

“For any doctors, pharmacists or nurses who disregard their oath and distribute powerful drugs illegally to enrich themselves, the message today is that they will be prosecuted to the full extent allowed by federal law.”

The opioid epidemic has been increasing in the U.S. over the last decade. According to a report from the National Safety Council, Americans were more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than a car accident.

In 2017, 40,036 people died from an opioid overdose in 2017, according to the NSC.