LOS ANGELES
A doctor who used to work in Antelope Valley was given a 37-month (a little over 3 years) prison sentence Monday for giving out illegal prescriptions during online doctor visits, officials stateed.
These prescriptions were for strong painkillers and other drugs that people often misuse.
Federal judge Dale S. Fischer sentenced doctor Raphael Tomas Malikian, who is 39 years old and lives in Llano and Palmdale.
The judge also ordered him pay a $20,000 fine.
According to the evidence, Malikian admitted he did something wrong in October 2023. He confessed to helping people get drugs through deceit and to giving out a painkiller called oxycodone illegally.
In November 2021, the California Medical Board stopped Malikian from practicing medicine, and his license to practice medicine ran out in November 2022.
From December 2019 to August 2021, Raphael Tomas Malikian was a licensed doctor in California. He had permission from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prescribe medicines.
Malikian also ran Happy Family Medicine, a clinic that was supposed to be in Hollywood. However, it mostly gave medical advice over the phone or by text.
Malikian gave out prescriptions for strong medicines to people without properly checking their medical history, doing a physical check-up, asking for medical tests, or using any tools for diagnosis. He didn’t even know who these people were before prescribing these medicines.
He let people get prescriptions under someone else’s name.
He worked with two other people who gave him fake names and details, and then he wrote prescriptions for these strong medicines. These two people would then fill the prescriptions and sell the medicines illegally.
Malikian also wrote prescriptions saying they were urgent because of the COVID-19 pandemic, telling pharmacies not to check them too closely. This was not true.
He wrote hundreds of fake prescriptions for cough syrup mixed with codeine, including for made-up patients, adding up to more than 82 liters. Then, he sent these prescriptions to pharmacies nationwide for his partners to pick up.
Between April and July 2020, Malikian prescribed 702 oxycodone pills and 240 milliliters of the cough syrup to a buyer who was an undercover cop. He did this without doing a medical check-up or knowing who the buyer was.
From May to July 2020, he prescribed 234 Norco pills (a painkiller) and 180 Xanax pills (for anxiety) to another customer, who was also an undercover officer. Again, he didn’t do his due diligence.
Prosecutors said Malikian’s actions were serious and contributed to the opioid crisis because he prescribed a lot of drugs without any real medical reason.
The DEA investigated this case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittney M. Harris took charge of the prosecution.