{"id":20144,"date":"2016-02-04T21:41:55","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T05:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20144"},"modified":"2016-02-04T21:56:41","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T05:56:41","slug":"20144-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=20144","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Admits Distributing Addictive Painkillers and Transferring Off-Bank Account"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A medical doctor who served as the face of a sham Los Angeles clinic plead guilty today to federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges connected to her illegal distribution of the powerful painkiller best known by the brand name OxyContin, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"DepartmentDr. Madhu Garg<\/strong>, 64, of Glendora, pleaded guilty to one count of illegally distributing oxycodone and one count of money laundering for transferring the proceeds of criminal activity to a Malaysian bank account.<\/span><\/p>\n

Garg plead guilty and is scheduled \u00a0to be sentenced for May 26. \u00a0Garg is facing up to 30 years in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

Garg was arrested in January 2015, along with the other operators of the now-defunct Southfork Medical Clinic in Los Angeles.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A federal grand jury indictment charged seven defendants with conspiring to sell medically unnecessary prescriptions for drugs that included oxycodone, hydrocodone (commonly sold under the brand names Vicodin, Norco and Lortab), alprazolam (best known by the brand name Xanax), carisoprodol (a muscle relaxant sold under the brand name Soma) and promethazine with codeine (a cough syrup sold on the street as \u201cpurple drank\u201d and \u201csizzurp\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of her guilty plea, Garg admitted that she issued prescriptions for those drugs to Southfork \u201cpatients\u201d at the instructions of the owner of the clinic, Jagehauel Gillespie,<\/strong> and that she knew the \u201cpatients\u201d did not actually need the drugs.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court, Garg \u201cacknowledges that she intentionally prescribed the drugs outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDoctors are duty-bound to do everything they can to protect the health of their patients,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker<\/strong>. \u201cIssuing prescriptions for powerful and addictive drugs for no medical purpose undermines this basic principle. Medical professionals who violate federal law by trafficking narcotics put lives at risk and compromise our health care system.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Records maintained by the State of California show that Garg issued more than 10,000 prescriptions for controlled drugs \u2013 the vast majority of which were for hydrocodone or alprazolam \u2013 over the year-long period that she worked at Southfork. <\/span><\/p>\n

Financial records show that, over the same time period, Garg received more than $300,000 in cash and transferred more than $90,000 to bank accounts held in Thailand and Malaysia, officials said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen doctors abuse their professional license for financial gain they put the public at risk, in this case by dispensing highly addictive controlled substances,\u201d stated IRS Criminal Investigation\u2019s Special Agent in Charge Erick Martinez.<\/strong> \u201cIRS Criminal Investigation is proud to contribute our financial expertise in an effort to halt the illegal sale and distribution of prescription drugs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During the investigation, Garg issued prescriptions for oxycodone and promethazine with codeine to undercover agents on eight occasions. During one of the meetings, Garg gave a prescription to an undercover witness, and then Garg agreed to issue a new prescription to the witness the following week under a false name.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe abuse of prescriptions drugs continue to take a horrific toll on public health and safety in our communities,\u201d said Stephen G. Azzam, Acting Special Agent in Charge of DEA\u2019s Los Angeles Field Division<\/strong>. \u201cThe DEA will continue to work with our partner agencies to identify and investigate doctors who are using their medical licenses to illegally deal drugs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The conspirators also used Los Angeles as a base of operations to acquire and deliver bulk shipments of prescription drugs to Texas, according to court documents. <\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, according to court records, Garg continued to assist Gillespie in acquiring oxycodone from international wholesalers even after the Medical Board of California revoked Garg\u2019s license in December 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

Previously in this case, five of the other defendants have plead guilty, including Gillespie, who was sentenced in November to six years in federal prison. <\/span><\/p>\n

One other defendant is pending trial, which is scheduled for later this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A medical doctor who served as the face of a sham Los Angeles clinic plead guilty today to federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges connected to her illegal distribution of the powerful painkiller best known by the brand name OxyContin, according to officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[1218,492,2191,2190],"class_list":["post-20144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-drug-trafficking","tag-money-laundering","tag-oxycontin","tag-southfork-medical-clinic"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor Admits Distributing Addictive Painkillers and Transferring Off-Bank Account<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A medical doctor who served as the face of a sham Los Angeles clinic plead guilty 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