By Sherri Blevins
If you view newspaper, television, or social media, you are bound to see stories involving drug abuse in some fashion as they are becoming common everyday events. There is a real crisis affecting almost every family in Alabama either directly or indirectly; the main culprit is opioid abuse. Those involved in the abuse include people from all different backgrounds and their entry into the crisis is through many different doors including peer pressure, legitimate needs for the drug that led to misuse, experimentation, and some developed addictions at the hands of greedy doctors who are illegally prescribing drugs for their profit.
Law enforcement agencies, state government agencies, Attorney General William P. Barr, and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II are taking steps to irradicate the problem involving doctors who misuse their power. According to an April 17, 2019 press release, Barr and Azar, together with multiple law enforcement partners, announce enforcement actions involving 60 defendants across eleven federal districts, including thirty-one doctors, seven pharmacists, eight nurse practitioners, and seven other licensed medical professionals, for alleged participation in the illegal prescribing and distributing of opioids and other dangerous narcotics and for health care fraud schemes.
Five of the cases involved several individuals from North Alabama including Dr. Celia Lloyd-Turney, Dr. Marshall Plotka, Dr. John Cimino, Katherine Barnett, and Dr. Elizabeth Korcz.
The report stated the following:
Lloyd-Turney dispensed controlled substances and other prescription drugs directly from her clinic located in Toney; prescribed excessive amounts of medication to the same patient several times a month and also left blank prescription pads with employees to use when she was out of the office.
Dr. Marshall Plotka was charged with maintaining drug-involved premises where over four years he stored heroin, meth, cocaine, and marijuana at and made it available for other people including women he hired as prostitutes.
Dr. John Cimino and associate Katherine Barnett were accused of billing the U.S. military healthcare system for more than $300,000.00 in false and fraudulent claims.
Hoover pharmacy owners Alt MD Dr. Elizabeth Korcz and husband Matthew, along with their pharmacy technician, Austin Haskew were charged with conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances, maintaining drug-involved premises, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and several counts of health care fraud. Elizabeth Korcz is accused of providing pre-signed prescriptions to be given out while she was not at the clinic, which frequently hired patients with substance abuse conditions and required patients to buy many of their prescriptions drugs with cash.
The facts in this article were derived from WHNT News 19.
