Cato Files Brief in Major Supreme Court Case About Opioid Prescriptions: When Are Doctors Drug Dealers?

Trevor BurrusDr. Xiulu Ruan practiced medicine as a  board‐​certified pain specialist in Mobile, Alabama. His practice served almost 8,000 patients and employed 57 people. In 2016, he was indicted for unlawfully distributing controlled substances (opioids) and many related criminal charges. At his trial, the government argued that some of Dr. Ru an’s prescriptions fell “outside the usual course of treatment” and called numerous experts to testify to that claim. Dr. Ruan countered with his own experts who testified that his prescriptions were medically valid.A jury convicted Dr. Ruan based on jury instructions that did not include a “good‐​faith” defense for doctors who truly believe they are practicing good medicine. The Eleventh Circuit, unique among all the circuits, does not allow a good‐​faith defense, meaning doctors can be convicted of serious crimes—Dr. Ruan was sentenced to 21 years in prison—for mere ly being negligent in how they write prescriptions. And doctors of course disagree in good faith on the proper standard of care all the time, but malpractice claims adjudicated by civil courts are the proper venues to punish doctors who are merely negligent in their medical practice.The Eleventh Circuit upheld Dr. Ruan ’s conviction and he appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear his case. Cato has filed anamicus brief in support, arguing that the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) requires a  good‐​faith defense to differentia...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs