Dropping the opioid strike force in the Appalachian region: dozens of arrests in 11 states

Dozens of people, including 53 health professionals, have been charged with their alleged involvement in the illegal prescription and distribution of opioids and other narcotics, Justice officials said Wednesday. and the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal law enforcement and health officials held a news conference in Cincinnati, during which they announced charges resulting from the Appalachian regional force withdrawal operation on prescribed opioids that started just four months ago.

"The opioid epidemic is the deadliest drug crisis in American history and the Appalachians are suffering the consequences more than any other region," said Attorney General William P. Barr in a statement. "But the Department of Justice is doing its part to help end this crisis." One of the ministry's most promising new initiatives is the Regional Opiate Intervention Force (ARPO) of the Criminal Division. , which began its work in December. "

The charges brought by the ARPO Strike Force relate to more than 350,000 prescriptions and more than 32 million tablets distributed by health care officials in 11 states, including Ohio, Tennessee, the United States. Alabama, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Florida. Thirty-one doctors, seven pharmacists and eight nurse practitioners were charged on Wednesday. Some of the examples of medical malpractice found in the indictment are striking.

• According to the indictment, a pharmacy in Dayton, Ohio, prescribed more than 1.75 million opioid tablets between October 2015 and October 2017, which which earned him the nickname "pills mill", a medical office that prescribes opioids without a legitimate purpose.
• The indictment indicates that a doctor from the Western District of Tennessee, who himself called the "Rock Doc", would exchange opioids and benzodiazepines with patients in exchange for sexual favors. Over a period of three years, this doctor prescribed approximately 500,000 hydrocodone tablets, 300,000 oxycodone tablets, 1,500 fentanyl patches and more than 600,000 benzodiazepine tablets.
• A doctor charged in Tennessee has reportedly prescribed about 4.2 million opioid tablets.
• A 30-year-old patient living in Alabama would have been overdosed after receiving more than 800 oxycodone tablets prescribed more than two months before her death. .

The indictment lists other alleged abuses by health professionals, including executing fraudulent prescriptions, prescribing opioids to known drug abusers, and providing Facebook friends with opioid prescriptions. based on email requests.

"Opioid abuse and abuse is an insidious epidemic, created largely by the overprescription of powerful opioids across the country, and unfortunately, the Appalachians are at the center of the concerns John Martin, deputy administrator of the Drug Enforcement Agency, said Wednesday. "Today's announcement makes it clear that investigations into the diversion of prescription drugs have been and remain a priority for the DEA."

According to the Center of Disease Control, approximately 115 Americans die each day from an opioid overdose. According to the National Institute of Addiction, more than 70,000 Americans died of drug addiction in 2017, including 47,000 from any opioid and 28,400 from fentanyl and its analogues.