By A.B. Sidibe
Special to the Citizen
CRYSTAL RIVER — A doctor with a dubious history around pain clinics was arrested and charged in a morning multi-agency raid on Feb. 7 at his office for allegedly prescribing 1,567,988 pills in the past 12 months, according to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office.
Of that number, 643,000 were doses of oxycodone, said John Bergen, lead detective.
The street value of the pills is estimated to be $12 million. Other prescriptions included doses of Xanax, Soma, Methadone, Oxycontin and other schedule II and III substances.
Officials from the state Department of Health also suspended the doctor’s license and ordered him to cease and desist in the operation of the illegal clinic. The business is not a registered pain clinic in the state, according to investigators.
It is the biggest pain clinic shutdown in the history of Citrus County, according to authorities.
“This is putting a huge dent in the pill problem in Central Florida,” Bergen said.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Chiefland Citizen, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
If you are new to the award winning Chiefland Citizen and wish to get a subscription or simply gain access to our online content then please enter your ZIP code below and continue to setup your account.
ZIP Code: | |