Some of my blogs are extremely dense. This and the next several blogs focus on the intersection of federal and state criminal statutes and regulations concerning illegally written prescriptions and the potential criminal consequences.
Federal criminal statutes are intentionally written extremely broad. Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1) is the Federal Drug Act. Typically used for drug dealers, this provision is the tool federal prosecutors use to criminally charge physicians who improperly write prescriptions for controlled substances that are not medically necessary. The language of the federal criminal statute is quite simple.
Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1), provides that “[e]xcept as authorized by this subchapter, it shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly or intentionally manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute or dispense, a controlled substance.” Title 21, United States Code, Section 802(10), provides that the term “dispense” means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by, or pursuant to the lawful order of, a practitioner, including the prescribing and administering of a controlled substance and the packaging, labeling or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for delivery.
Section 821, provides that “[t]he Attorney General [of the United States] is authorized to promulgate rules and regulations …relating to the registration and control of the manufacture, distribution, and dispensing of controlled substances.” 21 Code of Federal Regulations § 1306.04, governing the issuance of prescriptions, which provides, among other things, that a prescription for a controlled substance to be effective must be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual course of his professional practice. Moreover, an order purporting to be a prescription issued not in the usual course of professional treatment is not a prescription within the meaning and intent of section 309 of the Act [21 U.S.C. § 829] and the person knowingly filling such a purported prescription, as well as the person issuing it, shall be subject to the penalties provided for violations of the law relating to controlled substances.
The Pennsylvania Code of Professional and Vocational Standards, Title 49, Chapter 16.92, defines the authority of physicians licensed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to prescribe or dispense controlled substances. Chapter 16.92 provides in pertinent part:
(a) A person licensed to practice medicine and surgery in this Commonwealth or otherwise licensed or regulated by the Board, when prescribing, administering or dispensing controlled substances, shall carry out, or cause to be carried out, the following minimum standards:
- Initial medical history and physical examination….. [B]efore commencing treatment that involves prescribing, administering or dispensing a controlled substance, an initial medical history shall be taken and an initial examination shall be conducted unless emergency circumstances justify otherwise. Alternatively, medical history and physical examination information recorded by another health care provider may be considered if the medical history was taken and the physical examination was conducted within the immediately preceding thirty days. The physical examination shall include an evaluation of the heart, lungs, blood pressure and body functions that relate to the patient’s specific complaint.
- Among the factors to be considered in determining the number and the frequency of follow-up evaluations that should be recommended to the patient are the condition diagnosed, the controlled substance involved, expected results and possible side effects. For chronic conditions, periodic follow-up evaluations shall be recommended to monitor the effectiveness of the controlled substance in achieving the intended results.
- Patient counseling. Appropriate counseling shall be given to the patient regarding the condition diagnosed and the controlled substance prescribed, administered or dispensed. Unless the patient is in an inpatient care setting, the patient shall be specifically counseled about dosage levels, instructions for use, frequency and duration of use and possible side effects.
- Medical Records. [C]ertain information shall be recorded in the patient’s medical record on each occasion when a controlled substance is prescribed, administered or dispensed. This information shall include the name of the controlled substance, its strength, the quantity and the date it was prescribed, administered or dispensed to a patient. The medical record shall also include a specification of the symptoms observed and reported, the diagnosis of the condition for which the controlled substance is being given and the directions given to the patient for the use of the controlled substance. If the same controlled substance continues to be prescribed, administered or dispensed, the medical record shall reflect changes in the symptoms observed and reported, in the diagnosis of the condition for which the controlled substance is being given and in the directions given to the patient.
When the federal law is read in conjunction with Pennsylvania’s Code governing appropriate medical practices, prescriptions written without a medical basis or therapeutic need but for which the physician bills federal, state, or private insurance companies for both visits and reimbursement, the physician is exposed criminal liability. The criminal liability is both for insurance fraud and violation of the federal drug act.
As a doctor of medicine, physicians are authorized to dispense to patients Schedules II, III, IV and V controlled substances and to prescribe medicine to patients, including controlled substances, for legitimate medical purposes and in the usual course of professional practice.
Call to discuss any federal criminal target letter or indictment.
