pill mills News

US Supreme Court Sides with Doctors Challenging Opioid Convictions

The US Supreme Court on Monday made it harder for prosecutors to win convictions of doctors accused of running “pill mills” and excessively prescribing opioids and other addictive drugs, by requiring the government to prove that defendants knew their prescriptions …

Opioid Maker Insys’ Founder, Others Lose Appeals of Convictions

BOSTON — A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld the jury convictions of Insys Therapeutics Inc founder John Kapoor and four other company officials, over their roles in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe addictive opioids and defraud insurers …

Walmart Must Turn Over Files on Alleged Opioid Mishandling

Walmart Inc. must disclose some internal files related to alleged mishandling of opioid painkillers sold through the company’s in-store pharmacies, after a judge ruled in favor of investors who claim directors failed in their oversight. Two pension funds “quite clearly …

Chronic Pain Sufferers Plead for Nuanced Approach to Opioids

Will Michele Jacobovitz get out of bed today? That depends on how many painkillers she has left in her monthly prescription, which sometimes she’s forced to ration. Some mornings are harder than others. Jacobovitz, 56, has suffered from chronic pain …

International Opioid ‘Pill Mill’ Busted

Two people in Italy and five U.S. residents have been charged in a fraud and drug trafficking conspiracy to distribute opioids in Florida and Tennessee, leading to hundreds of deaths, federal prosecutors said Friday. The indictments were unsealed by federal …

Armed With New Data, Feds Target ‘Drug-Dealing’ Doctors

The pain clinic tucked into the corner of a low-slung suburban strip mall was an open secret. Patients would travel hundreds of miles to see Dr. Andrzej Zielke, eager for what authorities described as a steady flow of prescriptions for …

Massachusetts Pill Mill Doctor Pleads Guilty to Overprescribing Opioids

At Dr. Fathalla Mashali’s pain management clinics, the waiting rooms were often so packed with patients that people sat on the floor, leaned against walls and spilled into the hallways. That’s because, federal prosecutors say, Mashali was prescribing oxycodone and …

Texas Officials Want Drug Database Moved From DPS

Some Texas lawmakers say prescription drugs can be bettered monitored by moving the state’s database out of the Department of Public Safety. House and Senate committees that studied the issue recommend that the State Board of Pharmacy take over the …

Florida Prescription Database Will Keep Running

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is keeping the state’s prescription drug database up and running after state legislators decided against funding it. The Florida Legislature did not set aside any money for the nearly three year old program during the …

Indictments for 3 Involved in New Orleans ‘Pill Mill’ Scheme

Three people, including a doctor and a former police officer, have been indicted on federal charges of operating pain clinics that sold prescriptions for highly addictive drugs. Dr. Joseph J. Mogan III, Tiffany Miller and Donald Nides, a former New …