Sixty doctors, pharmacists and medical workers indicted for a major opioid case: NPR

Updated at 11:25 ET

Federal prosecutors have filed lawsuits against 60 doctors, pharmacists, health professionals and others in connection with allegations of opioid rash and health care fraud, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

The charges followed about three and a half months after the Department of Justice sent prosecutors to experienced frauds in hard-hit Appalachian areas.

The cases involve more than 350,000 prescriptions of controlled substances and over 32 million pills – the equivalent of a dose of opioids for "every man, every woman and every child" in the # Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and West Virginia, said the assistant lawyer. General Brian Benczkowski.

"You can rest assured that when health professionals behave like drug traffickers, the Justice Department will treat them as drug traffickers," added Benczkowski, who heads the DOJ's criminal division.

The accused includes 31 doctors, 7 pharmacists, 8 nurse practitioners and 7 other licensed health professionals, the Justice Department announced.

The idea of ​​creating an opioid enforcement force in the Appalachian region of the department was launched last fall to help regions affected by high opioid overdose and death.

Justice Ministry officials have finally approved sending 14 prosecutors for health fraud in several federal districts to assist in the trial process. They began in January to analyze the data to find the largest outliers.

Prosecutors then used traditional methods of maintaining order, including search warrants, confidential informants and surveillance, officials said.

It is unclear how many defendants trapped in this series of lawsuits could fight the charges in court. To go ahead, the Department of Justice should prove that the prescriptions were written and fulfilled outside the scope of normal medical practices and that they had no legitimate medical purpose.

In some instances, authorities have reported "excessively large amounts, 100 prescriptions a day" or other suspicious facts – such as unproven orders from a patient who has been physically examined.

In another episode, a doctor had a pharmacy outside his own waiting room.

"It's extreme extreme behavior," Benczkowski said. "We are targeting the worst of the worst doctors in these districts."

The authorities indicated that they were working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ministry of Health and Social Services and the local public health officials so that patients who come to the medical services offices closed receive information and other treatment options.

Authorities say one of the goals was simply to cut the flow of opioids into areas where addiction had already wreaked havoc.

"In my opinion, if we can save a life, it's worth it," Benczkowski said. "We will not just go out and try to stop our way out of the problem."

The CDC reported that 130 Americans are dying every day from an opioid-related overdose and that federal law enforcement officials have been accused of attempting to stop the flow some of these drugs.

"The opioid epidemic is the most deadly drug crisis in American history and the Appalachians are suffering the consequences more than any other region," said Attorney General William Barr. "But the Justice Department is doing its part to help end this crisis."

Efforts will continue, officials said – the strike force should expand into a new area, the Western District of Virginia, starting this week.