One Bad Doctor: Richard Johns Pill Mill Scheme Leads to Death of One, Ensnares Dozens

Curtis Norris had made some bad decisions. He dropped out of Cabot High School and his work history was spotty. But, as far as his mother knew, he didn’t have a real drug problem before he hooked up with Marissa Scroggins months before he died. Brenda Birmingham thought Marissa was another of Curt’s bad decisions, but you don’t tell a 25-year-old man whom he can spend his time with. Besides, Curt loved Marissa’s toddler and sometimes referred to the boy as “my son”; now Birmingham wishes he really were her grandson. Birmingham can’t remember exactly how long her son was involved with Marissa Scroggins, but she’s sure it was less than a year. She’s also convinced that he was not using opioids regularly in the fall of 2014 because he had passed a pre-employment drug test three weeks before his death and he knew he was subject to random testing. This much is certain: Curt Norris had bought oxycodone as part of an illegal drug distribution organization managed by Marissa’s father, David Scroggins. Norris was one of about four dozen associates who would fill oxycodone prescriptions for David Scroggins in exchange for cash and perhaps a share of the pills. So when Norris came down with what he thought was flu — an autopsy would diagnose pneumonia — and the pain got the best of him, he had a lethal dose of at least six 30-milligram tablets readily available to pulverize and inject. On Nov. 8, 2014, a young detec...
Source: Arkansas Business - Health Care - Category: American Health Source Type: news