SF Medical Doctor Arrested in Drug Ring (CA Health and Safety Code 11350, 11351,11352)

68-year-old medical doctor in Chinatown (name withheld for privacy), has been charged for dealing drugs (CA Health and Safety Code 11350, 11351,11352) and conspiracy (CA Penal Code 182) in an alleged money-for-fake-prescriptions scheme.  Federal law enforcement representatives claim that the good doctor has been writing phony prescriptions for things like oxycodone and hydrocodone, both heavy-duty painkillers.

Although he has already entered a ‘not guilty’ plea, prosecutors are wasting no time in releasing information to the press.  Court records show that he confessed to DEA agents that he has been writing prescriptions such as these for a period of about 7 years, charging anywhere from $80-$150 each.  In order to cover his tracks, he seemingly asked his phony patients for additional medical information to complete the ruse, things like MRIs.

Additionally, DEA agents argue that he was not acting alone.  They claim that the physician had an accomplice who convinced homeless persons to go to him, get the false prescription, head to the pharmacy, and then hand over the drugs to him.  The DEA was alerted to his alleged plot because of the large number of prescriptions he’d written for those particular drugs.  They then sent in an undercover agent, who was able to buy at least 12 phony prescriptions from the doctor.  His supposed accomplice is already carrying out a 6-year sentence in a California state prison for similar conspiracy charges.  If he’s convicted, he will likely face $1 million in fines and up to 20 years in state prison.