Online prescribing convictions sign of federal scrutiny

Government action against Internet pharmacies and physicians working with them is expected to increase. Federal legislation proposes to address the issue.

By Amy Lynn Sorrel, AMNews staff. March 26, 2007.

The recent sentencing of a ninth doctor in a probe of online prescribing suggests that the federal government is stepping up efforts to crack down not just on the Internet companies running the show, but also physicians who work with them, experts say.

The government accuses the doctors involved in the case of conspiring to dispense schedule III and schedule IV pain and anti-anxiety medications without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of medical practice, court records show.

The nine doctors, all sentenced within the last year, received either jail time or probation, in addition to hefty fines for the money they earned working for various Internet companies. Three other physicians also have pleaded guilty to related charges and await sentencing, according to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Iowa. The Iowa district is handling the national case because it began with the investigation of a pharmacy based in that state. It involves doctors from Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, New York and Pennsylvania.

The government declined to comment. Attorneys for the doctors could not be reached for a response.

The federal government typically takes on Internet prescribing cases when a controlled substance is involved, experts say. Given the proliferation of online pharmacies over the last three years and factors that make it difficult for states to prosecute these cases, some experts say they expect heightened federal scrutiny of the entities and doctors working with them.