GEORGIA – Another so-called pill-mill doctor was sentenced to federal prison this month for his role in operating a “pill-mill” clinic in 2011, federal officials said.
Dr. Najam Azmat, 57, of Waycross, Georgia, was sentenced on Aug. 6 to serve 11 years and 1 month in prison.
“These pill-mills prey upon their so-called ‘patients’ by draining them of time and assets, fueling their drug addictions, and depriving them of legitimate medical treatment,” U.S. Attorney Edward Tarver said.
On January 17, 2014, after a five-day trial, a federal jury found Azmat guilty of numerous offenses related to his role in a pill mill clinic that operated in Garden City, Georgia in 2011.
The offenses of which Azmat was found guilty included conspiracy to dispense oxycodone and other drugs without legitimate medical purpose, 49 counts of dispensing without legitimate medical purpose, and conspiracy to launder money, officials said.
So far, 10 defendants, including, Azmat, were convicted for crimes involving the phony pain clinic:
- Eight of the other nine defendants, who either organized or worked for the clinic, had never had any medical education, training, or experience aside from having been associated with earlier pill-mill operations in South Florida.
- The organizers decided to open the clinic in Garden City because of changes in Florida law which restricted non-medical doctors from owning pain clinics. None had any connection to the State of Georgia before opening the clinic.
According to evidence presented at the trial, Azmat worked at East Health Center from February 21 to March 18, 2011.
During that time, Azmat wrote prescriptions for 196 patients, 96% of whom received prescriptions for oxycodone, a powerful and highly addictive pain killer.
Nearly two-thirds of the patients seen by Azmat traveled long distances to receive their prescriptions, often coming from Kentucky, Ohio, and Florida.
Patients typically paid $300 to be seen by Azmat or one of the other doctors who worked at East Health Center following Azmat’s departure on March 18, 2011.
During the trial, patients testified that they were addicted to oxycodone and learned of the clinic through aggressive marketing techniques conducted by the clinic organizers at rival pill-mill clinics in Florida. Azmat was paid $2,000 per day, typically in cash, at the end of each day he worked.
“The dispensing of addictive prescription pain medication under the guise of a doctor’s care is not about the good of the community or an individual’s specific health needs; in this case, it was about the greed of a physician who oversaw the operations of this pill mill. DEA and its law enforcement partners will continue to expend their time, energy, and resources in an effort to stem the tide against the growing prescription drug abuse problem,” said John S. Comer, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Atlanta Field Division.
Azmat was indicted with five co-defendants who were recently sentenced’
- Sean Michael Clark, 34, Boca Raton, Florida (Conspiracy) 40 months
- Adelaida M. Lizama, 28, Boca Raton, Florida (Conspiracy) 18 months
- Daniel John Wise, 35, West Palm Beach, Florida (Conspiracy) 42 months
- Candace A. Carreras, 27, Boca Raton, Florida (Conspiracy) 24 months
- Shelly Lynn Morford, 32, Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Misprision of Felony) 13 months on July 9.
In addition to the defendants named in the indictment,these other defendants have also been indicted:
- Adelard LeFrancois III, 44, Boca Raton, Florida (Conspiracy) 54 months
- Francis J. Barbuscia, 38, Plantation, Florida, (Conspiracy) 42 months
- Konstantinos Afthinos, 34, Lake Worth, Florida (Misprision of Felony) 15 months
- Dr. Kenneth Gossett, 53, Rome, Georgia, (Conspiracy) 42 months
Nuvest LLC, a Florida corporation which financed the startup costs for East Health Center, pleaded guilty to maintaining drug-involved premises.
The corporation, which provided the funds used to launch and operate the clinic, admitted that the clinic was opened for the purpose of dispensing oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other drugs without legitimate medical purpose.
As part of a plea agreement, the corporation forfeited the sum of $2 million, representing proceeds of unlawful activity laundered by the corporation.
The investigation of East Health Center resulted from a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), Chatham Savannah Counter Narcotics Team (CNT), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the United States Marshals Service.