Local Doctor and Pharm Busted!!!!!!

[Maggie]

On the news this week, a local town, Gulfport, MS., is still reeling from Hurricane Katrina devastation, Lost so many medical professionals, but,
on top of that there was one doctor, wife team thinking they can come in and clean up in the worst possible way.

The doctor was trained as an osteopath, and married to the pharmacist. The doctor prescribed the opioids, and the pharmacist filled them. The DEA busted them after an extensive undercover operation. They would have a long line in front of their offices with patients waiting to see them.

One person who claimed to be a recovering addict said he brought his mother, also an addict, in 2 or 3 times a week. He estimated they paid close to $1,000.00 each per trip. He admitted to thirty something lortabs a day. The mother died just recently from a "heart attack". The daughter, who happens to be an addiction counselor, is demanding an investigation into the cause of her mother's death. She feels this doctor is to blame.

This is so maddening when you think of the amount of money this doctor is bringing in. So much that the judge denied bail knowing he had the finances to run, as well as, family, in Viet Nam.

These are the headlines as I couldn't access the archives for the articles.

Maggie



Doctors charged in 'pill mill'
MICHAEL A. BELL, mbell@sunherald.com
Two doctors and a pharmacist are among four suspects accused of running a secret drug operation with $10 million in assets and a street reputation for satisfying a junkie's fix, authorities said.

"Basically this place was a pill mill," said Ralph Holiman, Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

Dr. Thomas T. Trieu is accused in an indictment of dispensing powerful pain medicine without conducting exams on customers at Family Medical Center, said Joel...

Published on 2008-05-22, Page A1, Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS)


13. 8 drug overdoses linked to Biloxi 'pill mill'
ROBIN FITZGERALD, rfitzgerald@sunherald.com
A federal indictment claims investigation of an alleged "pill mill" in Biloxi has linked eight fatal drug overdoses to a drug ring that operated through a doctor's office and a pharmacy.

The four suspects arrested Wednesday in a raid at both Division Street businesses were held overnight for federal marshals. The will be brought before U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Roper today.

All four have waived their right to a court-appointed attorney. Temporary...

Published on 2008-05-22, Page A, Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS)


14. DOCTORS CHARGED IN 'PILL MILL'
MICHAEL A. BELL, mbell@sunherald.com
Two doctors and a pharmacist are among four suspects accused of running a secret drug operation with $10 million in assets and a street reputation for satisfying a junkie's fix, authorities said.

"Basically this place was a pill mill," said Ralph Holiman, Drug Enforcement Administration agent. Dr. Thomas T. Trieu is accused in an indictment of dispensing powerful pain medicine without conducting exams on customers at Family Medical Center, said Joel...

Published on 2008-05-22, Page A1, Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS)

[Diandra]

Hi Maggie,
It is so unfortunate when this happens because this is what makes the newspaper headlines, not the good and decent docs who help pain patients live a life they may not otherwise have been able to.

Everyday I am grateful for my pain doc. I know if I had this kind of pain 25 years ago I would have had to live with it.

Thanks for sharing.
Diandra

[Pharmacist.steve]

this stuff just feeds the media's opiophobic hysteria

[Maggie]

So true about feeding media. Notice how many times it was covered with nothing new.

My neuro was honored on the local TV for voluntarily returning to Iraq at the age of 67. He had just had a quadruple bypass about two months prior to returning to active duty. That kind of heroe news doesn't get the attention it deserves. It was a short spot on late news.
Maggie

[Mark N]

Diandra, Steve, and Maggie, you are so right about feeding the media and how the good doctors aren't focused on. It is the way of our society is; we could pick any number of stories and it is the same, bad news sells and good news isn't reported very often.

I hope the doctor and pharmacist get long sentences in jail.

[911]

you all are right it will feed the media's opiophobic issues , i know back in 88-89 when i first started with chronic pain / psoriatic arthritis i did have to deal with the pain the best i could without a pain doc or meds , i beleive it led to my depresion or was part of it anyways , hope they hange em high ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Dave

[Pike]

We can read about such incidents but the public must be aware that the police inflate the profits and anything they can inflate to make it appear that they really got a big fish.

Some guy was stopped and busted in our town, we have little real news so the paper had a picture of 2 officers sitting at a table with the bag of weed (not more than you could put into a large pocket) cash spread out so it looked like a lot of money and a Nike clothing bag (perhaps it was in the bag) but the way the picture was setup was an attempt to shock Ma & Pa Kettle.

I believe that Drs who get into pill mills must be mentally ill unless they are framed … I do not understand why a Dr could not make a good living … a pharmacy seems to have profits exceeding the profits from black market drug sales.

I agree with Steve and how articles like this make things worse in most cases.

I hope a new administration will do what needs to be done to make the WOD less devastating to our society, it does no good to simply say a substance is addictive when the audience does not understand addiction.

I do not like to be around people who abuse drugs and especially alcohol but I am free to leave their presence … from a society standpoint I cannot believe that legalizing weed would not prevent many people from being exposed to drugs that can kill and are without a doubt addictive when abused.

There was a question posed to a person on a talk show last week, the question was what would happen if weed was suddenly made legal … the person said “many drug dealers would go bankrupt as their product would become worthless.”

It might take some time before the problems would be solved but after almost 40 years it is time for a new approach, a study mentioned in the broadcast spoke of depression in those who smoked … I believe the amount was 7-50 joints a day, the only people who use (abuse) weed in this manner could not avoid depression, they have smoked until they are stupid …

This is a serious issue and does nothing to further justify prohibition, I believe at least a 30% reduction in drug use would be seen quickly and would be the first and only positive development in the WOD, this beats nothing for the ruined lives, billions spent and damage to the fabric of our society; the rough part is admitting an injustice for decades.

With 800,000 fewer people in the system from weed arrests some county jails might actually have an empty bed for a criminal … many candidates wanted to make it all legal but my opinions are not fact based, smarter men could go far if they used their efforts to answer the tough questions.

I do not wish to get ran over by a drugged driver but if I put enough lights on my bicycle most pot smokers would pull over to see the lights, in my car I could be in danger.
Stop the lies and educate and maybe kids may not seek more dangerous substances and in time without spending a fortune they will grow up and at least use fewer drugs less often until they stop, people do change as circumstances change.

Pike

[RJW]

^^^^^Agreed, the WOD has been an incredible failure. Billions of dollars has been spent on prosecution and incarceration to what effect? This money could be used much more effectively on counseling and treatment.

[Mark N]

Although I would like to see some adjustment in our efforts to limit illegal drug use there is no evidence that education and treatment would do a better job. Let's face it, if you don't know about the dangers of illegal drugs by now you will never know about them and yet people continue to use them. One of the hidden problems of addiction that doesn't get talked about much is alcoholism. It is an example of a 'drug' that is regulated by the gov't with education and treatment readily available yet a large number of alcoholics abuse it and casual users cause many problems - car accidents, violence, unwanted pregnancies, etc. So I don't see that education and treatment will present fewer societal problems except we will have fewer people in jails. I know our local jail isn't loaded with marijuana users as they are rarely arrested.

I do want our efforts to change but it isn't as easy as saying legalize drugs. Do we want marijuana to turn into as big a problem as alcohol is and if we do can we deal with the devastation that goes with it [CPOD problems if nothing else]. That is a relatively simple decision because the impact of marijuana is manageable but what do we do about highly addictive drugs like meth. I can accept the consequences that people receive from making bad choices but I don't think our society would accept that.