‘Drug deals on wheels’ gets doctor arrested

It’s hard not to notice that the entire country is in the midst of a prescription drug panic — caused largely by the number of deaths from prescription drug overdoses in the last year or two and the rising tide of addicts who got their start on prescription painkillers.

Prescription drugs used to be the drug of choice for the wealthy alone — now, they’re just about everywhere. While the majority of doctors take their responsibility to care for their patients seriously and don’t overprescribe, some doctors are definitely in the business to make the most money they can by operating “pill mills” in various locations around the country.

One Maryland doctor apparently decided to take personal service to the next level, however — he met his “patients” in his car and wrote his prescriptions there. The news report isn’t clear if he had a regular route that he followed or how patients scheduled their appointments, but it was probably an attempt to keep overhead, records, prying eyes and police involvement out of the way of his prescription pill business.

All told, the recent crackdown that included the doctor with his “drug deals on wheels” netted eleven arrests over illegally prescribed prescription drugs. The pill mills operated in Maryland but had patients who drove in from all over the country to get what they craved — including at least one patient who drove over 200 miles to get there. The defendants prescribed over 283,000 doses of oxycodone to only 403 patients — no doubt contributing heavily to the pipeline of prescription drugs that’s been cutting through the middle of the country.

These weren’t the only recent arrests — a team of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents, police officers and prosecutors brought down two other doctors for similar offenses. The doctors were prescribing large doses of drugs for cash payments. One of them covered up his activities by selling the drugs at Tupperware parties.

The doctors aren’t the only people in trouble — in several of the cases, nurses, assistants and office staff members also were arrested for their complicity.

It’s important to remember that the current crisis over prescription drugs makes just about anyone a suspect –so find legal help if you believe that you (or the clinic you work for) is under investigation for prescription drug trafficking.

Source: www.ydr.com, “Doctor accused of prescribing drugs from car in Harford County, MD.,” Associated Press, Aug. 10, 2017