OxyContin Ring Sells 1 Million Pills on the Street
In Los Angeles, 14 people have been charged with running a scheme to obtain OxyContin pills through insurance fraud and distribute them on the street for millions of dollars in profits. The drug distribution ring included two doctors and the operators of a clinic owned by Lake Medical Group. Members of the ring are suspected of reselling more than 1 million OxyContin pills on the street.
According to federal officials, the clinic’s doctors wrote fraudulent prescriptions for the powerful painkiller and billed Medicare and Medical. Most of the prescriptions were written for patients who did not need a painkiller.
Members of the ring are also alleged to have committed identity theft and used stolen Medicare beneficiary information to obtain OxyContin. Among those charged were Dr. Morris Halfnon, aged 88, Dr. Eleanor Santiago, aged 73, and pharmacist Theodore Yoon.
The …