University of Colorado backs Lynne Fenton, Holmes psychiatrist, who was disciplined for prescribing drugs to self, husband

The University of Colorado is defending Lynne Fenton, a university psychiatrist whose record has come under scrutiny since she was identified as the doctor treating James Holmes, the alleged gunman in an Aurora theater shooting earlier this month.

Fenton was identified in court documents as the psychiatrist treating Holmes, Reuters reported. But her notoriety has gone beyond her association with Holmes since recent revelations that she was reprimanded by a medical board in 2005 for prescribing drugs to herself, her husband and an employee, WPTV reported. ABC7 News in Denver reported that the prescriptions, made in the late 1990s, were for the anti-anxiety and sleep-aid drugs Vicodin, Xanax, Lorazepam and Ambien. To make up for the transgression, she completed 50 hours of medical training and had to promise not to prescribe medications for family members and employees, according to the same report.

The University of Colorado-Denver, where Fenton is the medical director for student mental health services as well as a professor, defended Fenton's record in a statement. "While the incidents arose prior to Dr. Fenton working for the University of Colorado School of Medicine, she disclosed them to CU when she was hired," the statement said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Her supervisors believed at the time, and still believe, that the incidents do not in any way adversely impact her faculty and clinical responsibilities."

Holmes was said to have mailed a notebook to Fenton that contained detailed plans for the shooting he allegedly carried out during a midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises — which she never received. The package was found in a campus mailroom and opened by police who had obtained a search warrant, according to a Reuters report citing Fox News. However, the reports have been disputed, the Huffington Post points out.

Holmes currently faces 24 charges of murder for the deaths of 12 people, and an additional 116 counts of attempted murder.