KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Letters were sent Tuesday to Missouri doctors who may have treated patients with drugs diluted by Robert Courtney.

The 184 letters 168 to doctors and the rest to clinics will include a list of patients named by the FBI as possibly receiving prescriptions that could have been tainted by Courtney, said health department spokeswoman Nanci Gonder.

Gonder stressed that those who are contacted did not necessarily use diluted drugs.

“We know it’s important to get this information out quickly,” Gonder said. “These letters will not definitely tell them if they got drugs, but it will give them more information.”

The letter was written after a meeting Tuesday morning involving officials from several state departments, including the Missouri State Board of Registration for the Healing Arts and the Missouri Board of Pharmacy.

If it is asked, the health department will help doctors contact their patients, Gonder said.

Federal authorities announced last week that Courtney recently admitted diluting 72 drugs, dating back to at least 1992 and affecting about 400 doctors and 4,200 patients. He originally admitted diluting two chemotherapy drugs from November of 2000 through May of 2001.

On Monday, federal investigators said they are looking into whether the dilutions may have dated back as far as 1985 when Courtney first became a pharmacist.

Kansas officials mailed letters Friday to between 100 and 200 doctors mainly in the Kansas City area notifying them that their patients may have received the diluted drugs.

Courtney, 49, pleaded guilty in February to 20 counts of tampering and adulterating or misbranding the chemotherapy drugs Taxol and Gemzar.

Based on Courtney’s latest statements, the FBI now believes he watered down 72 drugs, including antibiotics, AIDS medicine, and anti-nausea medications.