Judge Rules Rx Records Can Be Used Against Richard Johns

Richard Johns, the suspended Little Rock doctor charged with fraudulently distributing painkillers, knew his prescriptions were being recorded in a state database and can't now keep them from being used as evidence against him, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller ruled this week. Miller's denial of Johns' motion to suppress evidence collected under a search warrant issued to a Lonoke County investigator two years ago does not bode well for his separate motion to have his seven-count indictment dismissed completely. Miller had not ruled by Thursday morning on that or on a motion to delay Johns' trial, which is scheduled to start Jan. 23. Federal prosecutors have strenuously objected to the motion to dismiss the charges, one of which accuses Johns of participating in a drug-peddling conspiracy that resulted in the death of a 25-year-old Cabot man, Curtis Norris. Prosecutors have not objected to the defense's attempt to delay the trial. Miller's order said Johns didn't even have standing to object to the use of data from the PMP — the Arkansas Prescription Drug Monitoring Program — since the records are actually those of the pharmacies filling the prescriptions rather than the doctors' own medical records. Miller also ruled that the search warrant issued to Det. Clint Eifling of the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office was based on sufficient probable cause and wasn't overly broad. In a sworn affidavit, Eifling said he had interviewed Norris' girlfriend, Marissa Scroggins, an...
Source: Arkansas Business - Health Care - Category: American Health Source Type: news