A federal grand jury has returned three indictments charging a total of 16 people, including pain clinic owners, pharmaceutical distributors, and runners, with drug conspiracy and other charges in connection to “pain management clinics” in Maryland, which were in actuality pill mills.
“Pharmaceutical pills can be just as harmful as illegal drugs when they are used without proper medical supervision and without valid medical need,” said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
Typical pain medications include acetaminophen, NSAIDs, oral steroids, muscle relaxants, anti-depressants, and even narcotic drugs. Although many believe that these drugs aren’t dangerous because they’re prescribed by doctors, abuse often leads to dependence, and further drug addiction. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that one in 15 people who take non-medical prescription pain relievers will wind up using heroin within 10 years.
“Abuse of oxycodone is one of our most significant drug enforcement challenges, and it is a direct cause of the epidemic of heroin overdose deaths,” said Rosenstein.
Each indictment alleges that the pain management clinics operated as pill mills. They routinely engaged in the practice of prescribing and dispensing controlled substances, primarily oxycodone, outside the scope of professional practice, and without a legitimate medical purpose.
“These indictments, search warrants, and subsequent arrests show that DEA is dedicated to dismantling “pill-mill” operations,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Karl C. Colder. “When prescriptions are obtained through rogue pain management clinics and then sold on the streets, it creates and feeds a new generation of users and addicts.”
According to officials, at least 400 patients were seen at these locations in just one month of operation. Each would get at least 100 oxycodone 30-mg pills. That’s a total of 20,000 pills being dispensed. Each pill has an estimated value street value of $30, the equivalent of $600,000.
“These addicts will continue to abuse the illegal prescriptions, or switch to a cheaper and more potent drug; heroin,” said SAC Colder. The “DEA and its partners will continue to work vigilantly to stop this dangerous trend.”
