One doctor prescribed more than a million hydrocodone tablets

A California diet center doctor known by patients as “Candy Man” was sentenced to four years in federal prison for dispensing what authorities said were massive amounts of powerful painkillers in exchange for cash.

Records revealed that he ordered more than a million hydrocodone tablets in 2008, more than any other doctor in the nation.

Prosecutors estimated that he made nearly $700,000 that year from selling controlled substances. However, authorities said they couldn’t account for 75% of the pills purchased over a 13-month period because he didn’t keep records of the transactions.

In the meantime, the NYTimes reports that Florida is shutting ‘Pill Mill’ clinics. Florida has long been the nation’s center of the illegal sale of prescription drugs: some doctors there bought 89% of all the Oxycodone sold in the country last year. This has changed dramatically with the introduction of new legislation.

References:
Doc gets 4 years for dispensing drugs for cash. MSNBC.
Florida Shutting ‘Pill Mill’ Clinics. NYTimes.
Image source: public domain.