(WWJ) — A doctor from St. Clair Shores who prescribed more than five million doses of controlled substances in the span of three years, leading to three overdose deaths, will spend 20 years behind bars.
Dr. Bernard Shelton, 67, was sentenced this week after being convicted at trial of a patient’s overdose death that resulted from his unlawful prescribing, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison announced Friday.
Shelton was also convicted on 21 charges related to the unlawful distribution of Schedule II, III and IV drugs.
Evidence presented during trial showed Shelton — who hasn’t been allowed to prescribe controlled substances since 2017 — ran a pill mill.
Ison’s office says Shelton prescribed more than 5.5 million doses of controlled substances between April 2013 and December 2016. Shelton prescribed over 2.7 million doses of Schedule II controlled substances such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, usually prescribing the types and strengths of drugs most valuable on the street market.
When an undercover patient made an initial visit to Shelton complaining of back stiffness, Shelton did not examine the patient’s back, but instead asked, “what can I give you today?” He then proceeded to prescribed the requested narcotics, according to Ison’s office.
The jury found that Shelton issued 21 prescriptions to seven different patients outside the usual course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose so he could charge for office visits and tests.
Shelton received over $1.4 million from Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan during the same time period.
Shelton began prescribing opioid pain relievers in 2010 to a patient whose pain was previously treated by prescription strength Motrin. Shelton prescribed increasingly stronger controlled substances over the next six years, and the patient became addicted to the drugs, Ison’s office said.
In January 2016, he prescribed an increased dosage of oxycodone to the 54-year-old patient without medical justification. The patient suffered an overdose two days later and survived. A second oxycodone overdose four days later was fatal.
Shelton also contributed to the overdose deaths of two other patients.
“This defendant violated his oath to do no harm to his patients. He prescribed drugs without any medical justification in order to line his own pockets,” U.S. Attorney Ison said, per a press release. “His actions caused the death of at least one person and contributed to the deaths of two others. This sentence won’t bring back those patients who he harmed, but should serve as a warning to others of our resolve to aggressively prosecute physicians who choose to act as drug dealers and cause the death of patients.”
More on today's top stories:
Most Popular
Comments / 0