Murdered while still alive: How a victim’s daughter remembers Robert Courtney

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Meckenzie Hayes has spent her adulthood trying to understand what happened to her mother.

Georgia Hayes was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Even worse, Robert Courtney was her pharmacist.

Meckenzie was just a teenager when her world crashed.

“I vividly remember seeing it on the news for the first time while sitting in our living room. I recognized the pharmacy shown in the footage,” said Meckenzie. “I remember running to get my parents and asking them if what was happening in the news story was happening to us.”

It was just the beginning of the nightmare. Federal prosecutors accused Courtney of diluting medications like chemotherapy to turn a bigger profit.

“I had a lot of difficulty wrapping my head around how this could happen — how someone could value money over a human life,” said Meckenzie. “I remember believing that my mother had been murdered — when she was still alive.”

The legacy of Georgia Hayes

Georgia Hayes was a fighter. She became the face of patients harmed by Courtney’s greed. She filed the first of more than 500 lawsuits against him in 2002. Hers was the only case that went to court, and that put her and her family in the national spotlight.

It was an emotional trial. Georgia wept at times. She had received 27 doses of diluted chemotherapy drugs. An oncologist testified that Georgia had probably missed her best chance to beat the cancer.

Meckenzie Hayes tearfully told the court that she knew her mother would miss many milestones. “To see me graduate, get married or have a child.”

Meckenzie had written a letter to Courtney early on, to process her anger and emotions. She was asked to read it in court. She remembers struggling to get through it.

“My mom’s case being the one to go to trial meant a lot of pressure,” said Meckenzie. “We wanted to represent other victims and their families well.”

Georgia won a $2.2 billion jury award against Robert Courtney. But Georgia said that the verdict wasn’t about the money. It was meant to send a message. In the end, that award was symbolic.

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“I will probably never see a dime from the verdict,” Georgia said after the verdict. “I am ecstatic that justice has prevailed, and the precedent is set for this to never happen to anyone else ever again.”

As the jurors left the courtroom, each of them hugged Georgia.

Life after the lawsuit

After the trial, MecKenzie avoided the media. She grew up and moved out of the area. It’s still very painful for her to relive those days. She agreed to answer our questions in writing, as a way to bring understanding to what she, and other family members of Robert Courtney’s victims have gone through—how their lives are forever changed.

Meckenzie told us Georgia was an “amazing mama.”

“My mom was an inspiration to everyone she encountered, and a blessing to all who knew her,” said Meckenzie. “She lit up any room she was in with her contagious energy, using humor and her faith to cope with even the hardest of days.”

Meckenzie said she worried constantly about what was to come or how much longer the family had to spend together. “How much precious time had this situation stolen from us?”

Meckenzie told us that after the case was settled, Georgia was adamant that the family not dwell on what happened, but instead enjoy the time they had left to spend together.

“My parents looked for as many opportunities as possible to make positive memories with me that would overshadow the darkness that loomed over our lives during that ordeal,” said MecKenzie.

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Georgia died five years after the trial, following her long battle with ovarian cancer.

That meant Georgia lived to see Meckenzie graduate from high school but that was the last important milestone the two shared.

It’s the painful legacy of Robert Courtney.

Motivated by greed

Robert Courtney pleaded guilty to 20 counts of tampering with drugs. But he admitted in his plea agreement that he had been diluting drugs since 1992, affecting as many as 4,200 patients. Those patients were being treated for cancer, AIDS and several other conditions.

Diluting drugs was a way to make money. Federal investigators said Courtney could pocket hundreds of dollars on a single dose of a medication if he put just a bit of the prescribed amount into the intravenous solution being used for treatment.

He admitted he was motivated by greed.

In a statement to prosecutors, Courtney blamed pressure to pay a $600,000 tax bill and to fulfill a pledge he made to his church as reasons for diluting the medications.

Courtney was ultimately caught when a sales representative for a drug company notified a physician’s staff that the amount of medication prescribed by the doctor did not match the amount of medication Courtney was buying.

Investigators sent test samples of the drugs Courtney was giving to patients to an independent lab. It showed it had less than 1/3 of the amount prescribed. Further sampling revealed the medication on one bag for chemotherapy had zero percent of the drug.

Several survivors and their families testified at Courtney’s sentencing: Georgia Hayes was among them.

“I leave Robert Courtney in your hands for his lifetime, and in the Lord’s hands for eternity,” said Georgia. “May God have mercy on his soul.”

Courtney was sentenced to the maximum of 30 years in prison. “Your crimes are a shock to the civilized conscience,” said US District Judge Ortie Smith. “They are beyond understanding.”

Here we go again

Once again, the Federal Bureau of Prisons plans to release Courtney. Families have been notified. Courtney will move to a halfway house in June and then to house arrest in July.

There were plans of releasing him during COVID, but families and lawmakers were able to squelch that. So, family members of the victims and lawmakers are again appealing to keep Courtney in prison.

“I believe Mr. Courtney is remorseful that he got caught, that he spoiled his reputation in a trusted profession and in the community and that he missed key moments in the lives of his children and family,” said Meckenzie.

Meckenzie said that after her mother died, she struggled to find closure and find peace — all the pain and anger of Courtney’s action resurfaced.

She eventually decided to contact Courtney directly, first by mail, and later with one in-person visit.

“This was empowering and gave me the opportunity to say what I needed to say and hear directly from him,” said Meckenzie.

She doesn’t want to disclose details of their visit, but said “It culminated with me forgiving him, much like my mother had done.”

For Meckenzie, forgiving has helped her with healing, but she said she does not support Courtney’s early release.

“I think of my mother every single day and also about how Courtney’s actions have impacted my daily life, both personally and professionally,” said Meckenzie. “But mostly, I think of my mom’s example…the dignity and grace that she showed in the face of adversity.”

“Therefore, instead of continuing to slander the name of Robert Courtney or speak any ill-will upon him, I am choosing to put my faith in my God. Courtney’s ultimate judgment will come. I’m only asking that what was ordered be carried out in its entirety.”

If your family has been affected by Robert Courtney, we’d like to hear from you. Please contact us at Investigate@kctv5.com

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