Medical Doctors and Illegal Oxycontin Prescriptions
When most of us think about what a typical drug abuser looks like, we think of men or women who could easily pass as a homeless person, but in reality just about anyone out there could be breaking the law when it comes to dugs, both illegal and prescription. Even doctors and pharmacists have been caught either overprescribing Oxycontin to patients or they themselves have been caught trying to feed their own addiction. Cases from Washington State to Pennsylvania and beyond have shown the depth to which licensed health professionals will go.
One of the most recent cases was in Spokane, Washington. Federal agents raided the offices of Dr. Keith Hindman in 2007 under the suspicion that he was over prescribing several medications, including methadone and Oxycontin, to patients who were addicted. This is, of course, highly illegal, and Dr. Hindman was sentenced to nine months in prison for his illegal activity. All things considered, nine months is a light sentence for crimes involving Oxycontin. Similar cases from around the country have seen significantly longer sentences more in line with dealing and buying street drugs. An assistant of Dr. Hindman was also arrested and charged.
Cases of professional Oxycontin abuse aren’t limited to the West Coast. A pharmacist in Western Pennsylvania was charged with stealing upwards of $30,000 in drugs from the pharmacy he worked at over a course of 17 months to feed his own drug habit. Although many drugs were stolen, the primary drug Mr. Kriak was interested in was Oxycontin. He pleaded guilty to some of the charges in exchange for the dismissal of charges that he defrauded an insurance company to help pay for the drugs he stole. Court records show that Mr. Kriak used patient names to prescribe himself the drugs he would end up stealing.
Sometimes, it isn’t the drugs that end up being too addictive to the doctors out there, it is the power of the prescription pad. A recent indictment of Dr. Paul Weinstein by federal authorities in Lawrence, Massachusetts, shows that this highly respected pillar of the community was selling prescriptions to help sweeten the deal of the sale of his Lexus. According to the indictment, the doctor was offering two 12-month Oxycontin prescriptions to go along with his Lexus to help sell his car faster. He was also offering five Oxycontin prescriptions to a federal informant who was in on the deal.
While most of us assume that doctors and pharmacists make plenty of money, it is the lure of even more green that causes some to go astray. A recent indictment in the upscale community of Greenwich, Connecticut, of local pharmacist Joey George shows that he was selling Oxycontin on the side as part of his regular duties at Byram Pharmacy. The men then resold the drugs on the street for a huge profit. Everyone involved in the scheme made huge profits, but federal investigators caught on and broke up the drug ring.
In Nevada, a recent spate of wrongful death lawsuits against a Las Vegas area doctor has been getting a lot of attention. The lawsuits claim that the doctor overprescribed painkillers such as Oxycontin to patients who really didn’t need it, thus causing addiction and eventual death. There has been a lot of controversy on this front, and not only with Oxycontin. Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars sending doctors on junkets and trips so that they will prescribe more of their medication. It is unknown if Dr. Buckwalter of Henderson, Nevada, was getting kickbacks for overprescribing Oxycontin, but the cozy relationship between drug companies and doctors is seen as a reason why Oxycontin addiction is so prevalent.
So, what does all of this mean? It means that while it is still safe to trust your local doctor and pharmacist, the lure of a quick high and some quick cash crosses socioeconomic boundaries, and that just because someone answers to the name doctor doesn’t mean they are above suspicion. As long as dangerous drugs like Oxycontin are available with just a prescription, abuses will continue unabated. It is up to all of us to be vigilant and help stamp out prescription drug prescription abuse.