22 Sep 5 charged for drug offenses after Maryland pain clinic shut down

On behalf of Jack B. Rubin, PA posted in Drug Charges on Monday, September 22, 2014.

A Maryland pain clinic has been shut down after authorities claim that it was distributing prescription drugs, including oxycodone, to addicts. According to investigators, they were tipped off by an informant shortly after the clinic opened in 2011, and they recruited additional informants to report on practices at the clinic that they say were illegal.

Five individuals, including two doctors, are facing charges in the case. Investigators say that an 81-year-old man who ran a clinic in Florida that was raided by the DEA in February 2011 helped two other individuals set up the clinic in Maryland. Allegedly, the Maryland clinic attempted to appear legitimate by referring patients to an MRI provider and doing urine tests, but investigators claim that the clinic prescribed pills to everyone regardless of the results of any testing.

Investigators also say that many of the clinic’s patients came from out of state and that some customers slept in their cars near the clinic. Area pharmacists were also among the first to contact investigators regarding the clinic’s practices, and according to reports, the clinic made $2 million in a single year and prescribed 1.4 million oxycodone pills among other prescriptions.

The attorney for one of the accused says that the individuals charged are innocent of drug offenses and that clinics such as this one are unfairly targeted by authorities. In a similar case, legal counsel would need to demonstrate that the accused was running a legitimate medical business. In addition to showing the ways in which the individual was in compliance with the law, the defense might also raise doubts about whether the patients were able to obtain adequate treatment for their pain at other clinics. Attorneys might also argue that during some aspect of the investigation, such as obtaining the search warrant, procedures were not followed properly.

Source: The Baltimore Sun , “Five charged with running Baltimore County pill mill“, Ian Duncan , September 12, 2014