WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice announced they are once again cracking down on the illegal distribution of opioids within the medical field.
After three years of work, the Healthcare Fraud Unit and the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force announced Wednesday that 14 people in eight federal districts across the United States have been charged for their alleged involvement in crimes related to the distribution of opioids.
The two teams have been working since 2018 with law enforcement agencies and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices throughout Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Tennessee and West Virginia to prosecute medical professionals and others involved in the illegal prescription and distribution of opioids.
According to a DOJ press release, 12 of the 14 individuals were medical professionals at the time of the alleged offenses.
“When we helped announce ARPO strike forces in 2019 we said it would be an enduring commitment to stamp out illegal opioid trafficking by prescription pad and we meant it,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio.
One of the cases announced on Wednesday charged a Kentucky dentist with unlawfully prescribing morphine.
According to officials, in August 2020, the dentist issued three opioid prescriptions to a 24-year-old patient in a five-day period. The patient died due to a morphine overdose, allegedly from the prescriptions the dentist issued.
Another Kentuckian was charged with unlawfully prescribing opioids to patients whose health care treatments were paid for by Medicare and Medicaid.
The DOJ said that the defendant allegedly "preyed on these patients for continued access in order to bill these programs for medically unnecessary procedures."
“Doctors and health care professionals are entrusted with prescribing medicine responsibly and in the best interests of their patients," said Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "Today’s takedown targets medical providers across the country whose greed drove them to abandon this responsibility in favor of criminal profits."
If you or someone you know are in Kentucky and suffer with addiction, you can find help by calling 833-8KY-HELP or by clicking here.
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