Physician Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison For Illegally Prescribing Opioid Pills

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On October 2, 2019, a Virginia doctor received a 40-year prison sentence for illegally prescribing more than half a million opioid pills over 19 months. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia handed down the sentence to Joel Smithers, who was reported to have operated a “pill mill” out of Virginia, according to authorities. In addition to prison time, he was given an $86,000 fine and will serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison time, according to court documents.

The sentence is lighter than it could have been. He was facing up to life in prison and a fine of more than $200 million, according to officials at the U.S. Justice Department. […]

Compounding Pharmacy Agrees to Pay $21 Million to End FCA Kickback Suit

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

On September 19, 2019, a Florida compounding pharmacy reached a $21.4 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in the Southern District of Florida to resolve claims they orchestrated a $70 million kickback scheme. Diabetic Care Rx LLC, which does business as Patient Care America, and private equity firm Riordan Lewis & Haden Inc. agreed to pay to bring the False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit to a close.

According to the DOJ, the Florida pharmacy, two executives and the private equity firm schemed to recruit beneficiaries of Tricare for medically unnecessary prescriptions such as expensive pain creams.

Details of the Case.

The DOJ claimed PCA used marketers to help recruit beneficiaries of Tricare. They allegedly paid kickbacks to solicit medically unnecessary prescriptions for […]

Alaska Board Sends Contradictory Letter to Pharmacists Over Filling Opioid Prescriptions (Part 1)

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The “Opioid Crisis” in the U.S.

We all know that there is an “opioid crisis” in the U.S. It is probably prevalent in every state. In Florida we have been suffering under it for the past ten to fifteen years. So it is nothing new to Florida. Government regulators including, but not limited to the Florida Department of Health (DOH), Florida Attorney General (AG), different State’s Attorneys’ (prosecutors) offices, multi-jurisdictional task forces, local law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), along with federal prosecutors, have been involved in ongoing efforts in Florida for the past fifteen years or so, to shut down “pill mills” and attempt to eliminate the “opioid crisis.” Florida was, unfortunately, leading […]

Alaska Board of Pharmacy Sends Letter to its Pharmacists Sending Mixed Signals Over Filling Opioid Prescriptions (Part 1 of a 2 part series)

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law

The “Opioid Crisis” in the U.S.

Virginia Doc Lands 40 Years in Prison For Running Multi-state Pill Mill

By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
On October 2, 2019, a Virginia doctor received a 40-year prison sentence for illegally prescribing more than half a million opioid pills over 19 months. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia handed down the sentence to Joel Smithers, who was reported to have operated a “pill mill” out of Virginia, according to authorities. In addition to prison time, he was given an $86,000 fine and will serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison time, according to court documents.

The sentence is lighter than it could have been. He was facing up to life in prison and a fine of more than $200 million, according to officials at the U.S. Justice Department. Click here to view the court’s […]

By The Health Law Firm|2024-03-14T10:00:19-04:00January 16, 2019|Categories: Mental Health Law Blog|Tags: administrative complaint representation, administrative hearing defense attorney, Board of Medicine attorney, Board of Medicine defense attorney, Board of Medicine representation, board of pharmacy attorney, Board of Pharmacy investigation representation, board representation for pharmacies, board representation for pharmacists, board representation for physicians, DEA hearing defense attorney, DEA hearing representation, DEA investigation attorney, DEA investigation representation, DEA order to show cause (OSC) defense attorney, DEA order to show cause (OSC) defense lawyer, Department of Health Investigations, DOJ defense lawyer, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) defense attorney, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation attorney, False Claims Act representation, FCA defense lawyer, legal representation for administrative hearings, legal representation for board investigations, legal representation for pain management physicians and pharmacists, legal representation for pharmacies, over prescribing painkillers, pain clinics, pain management physician defense attorney, pain management physician defense lawyer, pharmacist defense lawyer, pharmacy defense attorney, representation for allegations of overprescribing, representation for Board of Medicine complaints, representation for Board of Medicine investigations, representation for DEA investigations against physicians, representation for DOJ investigations, representation for False Claims Act (FCA) investigation, representation for health care professionals, representation for overbilling, representation for pill mill allegations, reviews of The Health Law Firm, the health law firm, The Health Law Firm attorney reviews|2 Comments