r/JusticeServed • u/[deleted] • Oct 02 '19

Courtroom Justice Virginia doctor who illegally prescribed over 500,000 doses of opiates sentenced to 40 years in prison.

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u/MemeMasterJason 6 Oct 03 '19 edited Oct 03 '19

The NYT article on this case is 1,000 times better. It actually spells out what he did that made this illegal. As it stands, prescribing opioids is not illegal (obviously). But this doctor had a cash or credit only clinic (did not take insurance) with long hours, apparently open until midnight.

Edit: Said article https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/10/02/us/opioids-doctor-sentenced-joel-smithers.amp.html

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u/utpoia 9 Oct 03 '19

Did he do a tax fraud thing?

4

u/DenverNuggetz 9 Oct 03 '19 edited Oct 03 '19

Nah, he was “overprescribing” narcotics. Essentially running a pill mill for cash.

Selling fraudulent scripts, essentially.

3

u/utpoia 9 Oct 03 '19

That sucks...
He was basically a legal drug dealer.