Latest Opioid " Sting " Again Illustrates The Power of Prohibition to Corrupt

The front page of today ’s Wall Street Journal reports on a federal sting operation that led to the arrest of 31 doctors, 7 pharmacists, 8 nurses, and other health care professionals including dentists for distributing more than 32 million prescription opioid pills to patients in five Appalachian region states. Federal prosecutors described doctors handing out pre-signed blank prescriptions in exchange for cash. In some instances, doctors provided prescriptions in return for sexual favors. One Alabama doctor allegedly recruited prostitutes to become patients and let them use drugs at his house. Dentists performed unnecessary teeth extractions on cooperative patients so they can have a legal excuse to prescribe them the opioid pills they desired. Some doctors knowingly sold prescriptions to nonmedical drug users and then billed Medicare and Medicaid for the evaluations and tests they performed as a cover.Brian Benczkowski of the Department of Justice told reporters, “When medical professionals behave like drug dealers, the Department of Justice is going to treat them like drug dealers.” Mr. Benczkowski is right to consider these professionals “drug dealers.” This is just the latest and most graphic example of how prohibition fuels the so-called opioid crisis. In 2017 the DOJ arrested 412 doctors, pharmacists, and others for engaging in similar schemes in Florida. As I have written  here, drug prohibition creates lucrative black market opportunities for people...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs