Answer Addiction

Tag: Allegations

  • Doctor Accused Of Prescribing Pills Linked To Overdose Deaths

    Doctor Accused Of Prescribing Pills Linked To Overdose Deaths

    The doctor’s prescription writing was allegedly so extreme that a local CVS stopped accepting prescriptions he wrote. 

    There’s a lot of attention on the so-called “third wave” of the opioid epidemic, synthetic opioids, but the arrest of a California doctor this week for allegedly illegally distributing prescription pills shows that medications are still a dangerous part of the epidemic.

    Orange County doctor Dzung Ahn Pham, 57, who owns Irvine Village Urgent Care was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly providing prescriptions to patients whom he never actually examined, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

    He is facing two charges of illegally distributing oxycodone. At least five people who reportedly received medications from Pham overdosed, and another man who was allegedly using pills from Pham was involved in a fatal car accident.  

    “This case clearly and tragically illustrates the dangers of drug dealers armed with prescription pads,” United States Attorney Nick Hanna said in the press release. “This doctor is accused of flooding Southern California with huge quantities of opioids and other dangerous narcotics by writing prescriptions for drugs he knew would be diverted to the street. Prosecutors in my office, working with their law enforcement partners, will tirelessly pursue everyone involved in the trafficking of opioids as part of our persistent and ongoing efforts to stop the trail of misery that follows these dangerous drugs.”

    Pham’s prescription writing was allegedly so extreme that a local CVS stopped accepting prescriptions he wrote. 

    According to an affidavit, Pham provided medications including Adderall, oxycodone, tramadol, sSuboxone, norco, soma, alprazolam, and hydrocodone bitartrate-acetaminophen to patients who requested them via text message. At least 84 patients had prescriptions within a day or two after sending texts. 

    Last summer, undercover agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration also reportedly received pills from Pham, including a “Holy Trinity, [which] is the combined use of an opioid (such as hydrocodone), a benzodiazepine (such as Valium), and carisoprodol (a muscle relaxer like Soma),” according to the press release. The doctor then reportedly sent the undercover agent to a specific pharmacy that still accepted his prescriptions. 

    The pill mill operation was reportedly lucrative for Pham, who is believed to have deposited more than $5 million into personal accounts over the past five years. He also reportedly deposited $1.7 million into a business account. Investigators say he was charging $100-$150 per visit; it’s not clear how patients who requested prescriptions via text were charged. 

    William D. Bodner, DEA Los Angeles Associate Special Agent in Charge, said that targeting doctors who write prescriptions irresponsibly is a priority. 

    “This arrest should serve as a warning to any physician who utilizes their position to traffic opioids,” he said.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Apprentice" Contestant Claims Trump Snorted Adderall On Set

    "Apprentice" Contestant Claims Trump Snorted Adderall On Set

    Actor Tom Arnold took to Twitter to back up Celebrity Apprentice contestant Noel Casler’s allegations about Trump’s Adderall use.

    During a stand-up set earlier this month, comedian Noel Casler claimed President Donald Trump used to snort Adderall on the set of The Celebrity Apprentice.

    It’s not immediately clear that the comic actually worked on the show, but other comics – mostly ardent Trump opponents – quickly came to Casler’s defense on Twitter, calling him “professional” and “discreet.”

    The six-minute routine at the Gotham Comedy Club drew plenty of laughs on Dec. 1, but it didn’t start going viral until a few days later.

    “He’s a speed freak,” Casler told the crowd. “He crushes up his Adderall and he sniffs it, ’cause he can’t read, so he gets really nervous when he has to read cue cards. I’m not kidding. This is true.”

    He went on to describe a “24-page nondisclosure agreement” – then apparently dismiss it.

    “I didn’t know then he was becoming president,” he continued. “Now it’s, no way, dumbass. I’m telling you everything I know. So he gets nervous and he crushes up these pills, and that’s why he’s sniffing when you see him in debates and when you see him reading. It’s why he’s tweeting, you know, it’s like he’s out of his mind.”

    Riffing on the allegations, he continued.

    “It makes sense if you think about it,” he said, “methamphetamine was invented by the Nazis to keep the fighter pilots up all night on bombing runs, so it makes sense that Trump would use it to hate-tweet.”

    When HillReporter.com followed up to ask whether Casler was serious, he reportedly said he wouldn’t discuss his work off-stage or on the record.

    But actor Tom Arnold took to Twitter both to declare the statement accurate and to imply that the whole skit may have been a way to get around the alleged NDA.

    “Because First Amendment Mark Burnett MGM & Donald Trump cannot hold a stand up comic performing onstage in public to their BS 10 year $5 million NDA,” he wrote. “Finally figured out a way to tell these true stories. Tapes too. Noel Casler, American Hero. Funnyman with impeccable credentials.”

    It’s not the first time a comment about Trump’s alleged drug use has drawn widespread attention. Back before the 2016 election, former presidential candidate Howard Dean dinged Trump for sniffling his way through his first face-off with Hillary Clinton.

    “Notice Trump sniffing all the time. Coke user?” he tweeted. A few days later, Dean apologized.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Prison Guards Accused Of Smuggling Pot, Wire Cutters Into Lock-Up

    Prison Guards Accused Of Smuggling Pot, Wire Cutters Into Lock-Up

    Three female guards are all facing charges of attempting to furnish a prisoner with contraband.

    A trio of prison visitors could end up on the other side of the razor wire after they were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle pot and cell phones into a pair of South Carolina lock-ups. 

    The three women arrested – Yolanda Whitaker, Yvanda Maria Hardy, and Carmen Bess – are all facing charges of attempting to furnish a prisoner with contraband, according to The State.

    The set of collars came just days after one prison guard was hit with a similar contraband charge and another accused of trying to smuggle oxycodone and MDMA into a Bennettsville facility, according to the Columbia newspaper.

    The first of the visitor arrests came on Nov. 2, nine months after officials say Whitaker tried sneaking 20 cell phones, a pair of wire cutters, 3.5 pounds of tobacco, lighters and rolling papers into the medium-security prison Kershaw Correctional Institution. It’s not clear who the intended recipient was, but officials said she allegedly stuffed the verboten goods into a speaker box she mailed into the facility. 

    A day after Whitaker’s arrest, Hardy was collared for trying to bring weed into McCormick Correctional Institution. In addition to the contraband charge, she was hit with one count of manufacturing or possession of drugs and one count of conspiracy to introduce drugs. 

    The day after that, Jenkins was arrested – at the same facility – after she allegedly tried smuggling liquid perfume and 142.9 grams of pot into the prison. She faced the same set of charges as Hardy, but it’s not immediately clear where she tried hiding the smuggled goods, which were wrapped in black electrical tape. 

    The earlier arrests of officers were both announced in October. In the first case, Williams Suggs was hit with a series of charges after he allegedly stuffed a package of 40 oxycodone in his groin, along with 65 MDMA pills, 19 cigarettes, and a lighter. In his car, prison police discovered 450 grams of synthetic marijuana, authorities said at the time.

    Then, on Oct. 29, prison officials announced the arrest of Ebonyisha Moinque Casby, a Lieber Correctional guard who allegedly smuggled contraband to an inmate she was having sex with. It’s not clear what forbidden goods she was hoping to sneak into the facility, but she was also dinged for bringing a gun into the prison.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Aaron Hernandez Allegedly Smoked K2 For Days Before Death

    Aaron Hernandez Allegedly Smoked K2 For Days Before Death

    One inmate says the New England Patriot spent his last days smoking K2 and “wasn’t in his right mind.”

    Radar Online has reported that former New England Patriots tight-end, Aaron Hernandez, spent the last two days of his life using synthetic marijuana, and died by suicide while in a chemically disoriented state.

    Documents viewed by Radar also suggested that a state investigation into Hernandez’s suicide on April 19, 2017 at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts withheld information about the 27-year-old’s drug use for fear of compromising a separate investigation into drug use at the facility.

    Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in the shooting death of semi-pro player Odin Lloyd in 2013.

    Radar cited a redacted section of the 132-page public report that included quotes from an interview with an unnamed inmate on the day Hernandez died.

    According to Radar, the prisoner is reported to have said, “Well, he’s spent the last two days smoking K2 in his cell, and he wasn’t in his right mind.”

    Two other inmates corroborated that story, while all three alleged that Hernandez appeared to be in a positive or even celebratory mood in the days prior to his death, possibly due to his acquittal on murder charges stemming from a separate double homicide in 2012.

    Reports about Hernandez’s alleged use of K2—a form of synthetic marijuana with a propensity for causing a host of symptoms from hallucinations to unconsciousness and in some cases, severe bleeding—surfaced almost immediately after his death.

    But a 2017 toxicology report from the Massachusetts State Police found that Hernandez had no evidence of drugs in his system at the time of his death.

    But as toxicologist Marilyn Huestis told the Boston Globe, K2 can be easy to miss in test screenings. “These [synthetic marijuana strains] can be so potent, the doses so low, that when a person takes it, you can only measure it in their blood for a short period of time,” she noted. “So labs will frequently miss it in the blood.”

    Those findings were rebuked by Hernandez’s lawyer, Jose Baez, who in a statement to People, said, “The lack of professionalism exhibited by government officials and their employees during this entire process is unprecedented.”

    Another of Hernandez’s lawyers, George Leontire, also condemned the state’s handling of the investigation. “Any disturbing commentary about the state’s investigation was clearly hidden from the public, Aaron’s lawyers, and his family,” he said to the Globe.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Celebrity Rehab" Treatment Center Shut Down By Health Department

    "Celebrity Rehab" Treatment Center Shut Down By Health Department

    The founders of the recovery center say they’re working with the state agency to resolve the concerns.

    The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) suspended the license of a drug rehabilitation center that earned exposure as the setting for the VH1 reality series Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

    An investigation into the death of a patient at the Pasadena Recovery Center (PRC), along with other alleged violations, caused the department to temporarily suspend the facility’s license in June 2018, and DHCS is seeking to make that suspension permanent while it addresses concerns about its patients.

    The founders of the recovery center, which currently operates as a sober living facility, hope to work with the agency to resolve the many concerns.

    According to the Pasadena Star-News, an unnamed patient died at PRC in 2017 after being admitted to its recovery program. Investigators found that while the staff determined that the individual was under the influence of an unnamed substance, he or she allegedly did not undergo detoxification.

    DHCS also claimed that PRC employees failed to check on the client every 30 minutes or carry out orders from a doctor regarding the individual. 

    A former client who spoke to the Star-News on condition of anonymity also alleged that PRC continued to conduct detox for clients after the June 2018 temporary suspension.

    The Star-News coverage noted that these clients learned about the suspension in late June and were subsequently discharged.

    The death—one of 84 at non-medical rehab facilities investigated by the state between 2012 and 2017—was just one of several inquiries conducted by DHCS into alleged activities at the PRC.

    The Star-News cited a May 2018 investigation where the facility was reportedly found to have improperly monitored detox for clients; other alleged issues ranged from missing files and lack of counseling sessions to disrepair in bedrooms and bathrooms.

    PRC was also cited for reportedly claiming that it was a 98-bed facility, despite being licensed for 88 beds, though the company has adjusted that number on its website.

    In a statement, attorney Alison Triessl, who co-founded PRC with her father, psychiatrist Dr. Lee Bloom, wrote that the facility “has been operating continuously for nearly two decades, and during that time, it has served thousands of patients in need. It was recently notified by the DHCS of certain alleged deficiencies. We are participating in settlement negotiations with the department and hope to have the matter resolved in the near future.”

    From 2008 to 2012, PRC was featured on the controversial Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, where it served as the treatment facility for an array of famous patients with alleged substance dependency issues.

    Six “cast members” died after appearing on the series, including country singer Mindy McCready, Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr, Rodney King, wrestler/actor Joanie Laurer and actor Jeff Conaway. As the Star-News noted, not all of these deaths were attributed to their dependency issues.

    View the original article at thefix.com