The pitfalls of medical marijuana for the professional are more evident every day. Several weeks ago I wrote a blog on the challenges facing licensees who seek a medical marijuana card due to a medical condition. Prescription Drug History In another blog I wrote about the complexities facing medical professionals who seek to become medical marijuanauthorized prescribers. In Pot Doc Article the Philadelphia Inquirer reveals Pennsylvania’s Medical Board, Health Department, FBI, and DEA investigatory practices in this field. If you are a medical professional, please read this article. I represented a peripheral, part time doctor moon lighting for Dr. Nikparavarfard.Doctors working in a medical practice that includes a “Pot Doc“ – doctors that are authorized to write prescriptions for medical marijuana – are subjecting themselves to unnecessary oversight and inquiry. When a “Pot Doc” exposes himself to both criminal and licensing investigations, they expose all nurses or doctors employed by that practice. Drug Act violations are routinely found and criminal charges filed!.The FBI and DEA’s investigation of Dr. Nikparvarfard’s Scranton office – the Pot Doc – necessarily also included my client’s prescribing patterns. An invasive, long running investigation turned to her simply because the police were investigating that practice and needed leverage against Dr. Nikparvarfard. Experienced and accomplished undercover FBI, DEA, Health Department agents then ensnared my client. Again, only because they were looking at Dr. Nik’s practice.My client was not the prescribing “Pot Doc.” However, the overarching Pot Doc investigation expanded to any potential criminal activity discovered within the medical practice. But for my client working for the Pot doc and his medical practice, my client would not have been under surveillance. Unfortunately she was.Once my client became known to FBI, her prescription and Medicaid/Medicare billing patterns were easily examined, patients contacted, and medical procedures evaluated. Undercover patients were sent to the practice. All because of the attention brought on the practice by Pot Doc Nikparvarfard.One bad apple spoils the pie; two or three bad apples subject professionals to jail. These types of investigations render medical professionals (nurses and doctors) unemployed and potentially unemployable. Thereafter, professionals are the target of multiple investigations by medical boards, DEA, Health Departments, and potentially the U.S. Department of justice. But for my client’s employment with a Pot Doc, she would not have come under any surveillance.This case is but one example of many to come. Overarching public safety concerns, opiates in the news, and an aggressive enforcement environment of a new regulatory scheme create huge risks for both Pot Docs and those doctors and nurses who work with them.Please call me to discuss
Medical Marijuanand the Pitfalls for the Professional
On Behalf of Hark and Hark | Nov 9, 2017 | Firm News |
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