A doctor in Seminole County was sentenced to 25 years in State Prison last week for selling scripts to dealers who resold the oxycondone on the street.  The investigation also resulted in one of the patients getting 25 years.  This case is typical of the many arrests for prescription drug abuse.  All across Florida law enforcement is tackling the problem of pill mills.  Florida leads the nation in sale of Oxycontin. 

The real problem is the unlimited supply being put on the market by drug companies like Purdue.  In 1997 the Oxycontin quota approved by our DEA was a staggering eight tons.  By 2011 our DEA approved Purdue to produce and sell 100 tons of this highly abused drug.  That is a 1200% increase in production.  Is there any wonder we have a drug problem?

Graduating medical students now seek employment as pain management doctors who receive the highest starting salaries, even over surgeons.  The simple fact is that it is all about money.  It always has been.

Years ago, Qualude production was halted and the abuse of Qualudes ceased to exist. Why can't the DEA do the same thing with Oxycontin.  Several of the States sued Purdue and got a 19 million dollar settlement.  Do you know who Purdue's lawyer was?  At the time, Eric Holder represented this huge drug company.  He is now the Attorney General of the United States.  We have a drug epidemic and no one has touched the real drug dealers.  The new drug database is a start in halting doctor shopping and prescription fraud but that is like putting a bandaid on a boil.  We need to treat the cause, not the symptom.  Unless the issue of supply is addressed, the problem will continue.

If you have any comments, post them or contact me at my Ft. Myers criminal defense office