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Background: Pharmaceutical companies and drug distributors are intensely scrutinized in numerous lawsuits for their role in instigating the opioid epidemic. Many individual physicians have also been held accountable for activities related to prescribing opioid medications.
The purpose of this study was to examine the epidemiologic patterns of criminal cases against physicians charged with opioid-related offenses reported in the US news media.
Methods: We searched the Nexis Uni® database for news media reports on physicians who had been arrested, indicted or criminally charged for illegally prescribing opioids between January 1995 and December 2019. Data collected from the news media reports include defendant’s age, sex, clinical specialty, type of crime and legal consequences.
Results: The annual number of criminal cases against physicians charged with opioid-related offenses reported in the US news media increased from 0 in 1995 to 42 in 2019. Of the 372 physician defendants in these criminal cases, 90.1% were male, 27.4% were 65 years and older, and 23.4% were charged in Florida. Of the 358 physician defendants with known clinical specialty, 245 (68.4%) practiced in internal medicine, family medicine, or pain management. Drug trafficking was the most commonly convicted crime (accounting for 54.2% of all convicted cases), followed by fraud (19.1%), money laundering (11.0%) and manslaughter (5.6%). Of the 244 convicted physicians with known sentences, 85.0% were sentenced to prison with an average prison term of 127.3 ± 120.3 months.
Conclusions: The US news media has reported on an increasing number of opioid-related criminal cases against physicians from a wide variety of clinical specialties. The most commonly convicted crime in these cases is drug trafficking, followed by fraud, money laundering, and manslaughter.
Keywords
Drug overdose, Drug trafficking, Opioid Epidemic, Medical fraud, Prescription opioids
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View the published article at Injury Epidemiology.
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On 14 Aug, 2020
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On 13 Aug, 2020
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Review #3 received
Received 28 Jul, 2020
Editorial decision: Minor revision
On 28 Jul, 2020
Review #2 received
Received 18 Jul, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 18 Jul, 2020
Review #4 received
Received 15 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #4 agreed
On 14 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #3 agreed
On 07 Jul, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 06 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 06 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 06 Jul, 2020
Editor assigned
On 02 Jul, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 01 Jul, 2020
Editor invited
On 01 Jul, 2020
No comments provided
Editorial decision: Major revision
On 15 Jun, 2020
Review #3 received
Received 14 Jun, 2020
Review #4 received
Received 09 Jun, 2020
Review #2 received
Received 01 Jun, 2020
Reviewer #4 agreed
On 25 May, 2020
Reviewer #3 agreed
On 16 May, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 15 May, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 13 May, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 13 May, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 13 May, 2020
Editor assigned
On 12 May, 2020
First submitted
On 11 May, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 11 May, 2020
Editor invited
On 11 May, 2020
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See the published version of this preprint at Injury Epidemiology.
This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Short Report
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Published
View the published article at Injury Epidemiology.
Version 3
Posted 18 Aug, 2020
No community comments so far
Editor assigned
On 14 Aug, 2020
Editorial decision: Accept
On 14 Aug, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 13 Aug, 2020
Editor invited
On 13 Aug, 2020
No comments provided
Review #3 received
Received 28 Jul, 2020
Editorial decision: Minor revision
On 28 Jul, 2020
Review #2 received
Received 18 Jul, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 18 Jul, 2020
Review #4 received
Received 15 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #4 agreed
On 14 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #3 agreed
On 07 Jul, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 06 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 06 Jul, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 06 Jul, 2020
Editor assigned
On 02 Jul, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 01 Jul, 2020
Editor invited
On 01 Jul, 2020
No comments provided
Editorial decision: Major revision
On 15 Jun, 2020
Review #3 received
Received 14 Jun, 2020
Review #4 received
Received 09 Jun, 2020
Review #2 received
Received 01 Jun, 2020
Reviewer #4 agreed
On 25 May, 2020
Reviewer #3 agreed
On 16 May, 2020
Reviewer #2 agreed
On 15 May, 2020
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 13 May, 2020
Reviewer #1 agreed
On 13 May, 2020
Review #1 received
Received 13 May, 2020
Editor assigned
On 12 May, 2020
First submitted
On 11 May, 2020
Submission checks complete
On 11 May, 2020
Editor invited
On 11 May, 2020
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Epidemiology
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
View the published article at Injury Epidemiology.
Background: Pharmaceutical companies and drug distributors are intensely scrutinized in numerous lawsuits for their role in instigating the opioid epidemic. Many individual physicians have also been held accountable for activities related to prescribing opioid medications.
The purpose of this study was to examine the epidemiologic patterns of criminal cases against physicians charged with opioid-related offenses reported in the US news media.
Methods: We searched the Nexis Uni® database for news media reports on physicians who had been arrested, indicted or criminally charged for illegally prescribing opioids between January 1995 and December 2019. Data collected from the news media reports include defendant’s age, sex, clinical specialty, type of crime and legal consequences.
Results: The annual number of criminal cases against physicians charged with opioid-related offenses reported in the US news media increased from 0 in 1995 to 42 in 2019. Of the 372 physician defendants in these criminal cases, 90.1% were male, 27.4% were 65 years and older, and 23.4% were charged in Florida. Of the 358 physician defendants with known clinical specialty, 245 (68.4%) practiced in internal medicine, family medicine, or pain management. Drug trafficking was the most commonly convicted crime (accounting for 54.2% of all convicted cases), followed by fraud (19.1%), money laundering (11.0%) and manslaughter (5.6%). Of the 244 convicted physicians with known sentences, 85.0% were sentenced to prison with an average prison term of 127.3 ± 120.3 months.
Conclusions: The US news media has reported on an increasing number of opioid-related criminal cases against physicians from a wide variety of clinical specialties. The most commonly convicted crime in these cases is drug trafficking, followed by fraud, money laundering, and manslaughter.
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