Here are seven U.S. Department of Justice investigations into orthopedic physicians overprescribing opioids in the past nine months:
Santa Rosa, Calif.-based neurosurgeon Thomas Keller, MD, faces a potential prison term of 60 years to life for allegedly causing four patient deaths by overprescribing opioids. Dr. Keller is accused of second-degree murder of four patients and providing prescriptions without legitimate medical purposes. The trial is expected to close in mid-March.
Cheektowaga, N.Y.-based spine surgeon Anthony Leone, MD, pleaded guilty to writing himself illegal prescriptions for pain medication. Dr. Leone prescribed himself painkillers after spine surgery and lied about using them on a controlled substances commercial distributor form. The DOJ sentenced him in Decemeber to two years of probation, including three months home confinement.
Orthopedic surgeon Evangelos Megariotis, MD, of Clifton (N.J.) Orthopedic Associates, was charged in September with allegedly prescribing over 1.4 million tablets of oxycodone and more than 450 gallons of promethazine with codeine cough syrup within two years. Dr. Megariotis was among 54 individuals, including 15 physicians, charged for submitting nearly $800 million in fraudulent claims.
Morgantown, Va.-based orthopedic surgeon Chad Poage, DO, was sentenced in November to five years of probation and 500 hours of community service for fraudulently prescribing controlled substances using another physician's Drug Enforcement Administration number. The investigation was part of a largescale federal takedown, which included 31 physicians in seven states and related to more than 350,000 prescriptions for about 32 million pills.
Thomas Dempsey, MD, a former Mobile, Ala.-based orthopedic surgeon, pleaded guilty in September to prescribing hydrocodone unlawfully. Dr. Dempsey signed a plea agreement, admitting to pre-signing prescription forms for hydrocodone and oxycodone that his physician assistants later completed.
Kenneth Sun, MD, an orthopedic pain management physician with locations in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, was found guilty in November of prescribing large volumes of Subsys — an opioid narcotic — as part of Insys Theraprutics' kickback scheme. Dr. Sun allegedly solicited and received in excess of $140,000 in kickbacks and bribes from Insys to prescribe more than 28 million micrograms of Subsys.
Michael Frey, MD, a former pain management physician at Fort Myers, Fla.-based Advanced Pain Management & Spine Specialists, pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare and Tricare. Prosecutors said Dr. Frey collected fees from Insys executives for participating in "largely bogus" speaker event programs. In February 2019, he received an 18-month prison sentence.