Dr. Sean Ponce is barred from prescribing managed substances.
Sean Ponce , a Utah medical physician, has been completely banned from issuing opioid and different managed substance prescriptions. U.S. District Decide David Barlow, appointed by former President Donald Trump, issued the choice within the U.S. District Courtroom for the District of Utah. The Division of Justice (DOJ) had alleged that Dr. Ponce “unlawfully issued managed substance prescriptions in violation of the Managed Substances Act (CSA).” Moreover, “Dr. Ponce catered to buyer requests for opioids and different managed substances, at occasions utilizing textual content messages to rearrange the trade of prescriptions for money.”
The Utah medical physician maintained a digital workplace area to satisfy with cash-paying shoppers in an try to sustain appearances that she was working a reputable clinic regardless that she didn’t carry out routine examinations and there was no medical motive for issuing managed substances to those sufferers.
“Doctors who facilitate the unlawful diversion of opioids and different managed substances hurt the general public and violate the regulation,” stated Principal Deputy Assistant Lawyer Basic Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Division’s Civil Division. “The Division of Justice will proceed working with its companions to cease medical professionals who search to revenue from the opioid habit epidemic.”
“Within the District of Utah, we are going to implement the provisions of the Managed Substances Act,” stated U.S. Lawyer Trina A. Higgins for the District of Utah. “This consists of violations of the Act dedicated by medical doctors and healthcare professionals who unlawfully distribute managed substances beneath the guise of reputable medical apply.”
As a part of a consent order, the Utah medical physician is about to pay a $65,000 civil penalty. Along with being completely barred from issuing managed substance prescriptions, she has additionally been banned from “managing or supervising different medical suppliers who work with or prescribe opioids or managed substances,” court docket information present.
“We entrust healthcare professionals to behave locally’s finest curiosity,” stated Particular Agent in Cost Brian Besser of the DEA Rocky Mountain Division. “With that belief, the DEA expects practitioners to prescribe managed substances in accordance with the legal guidelines and rules set forth by laws. When public belief is damaged and healthcare suppliers search to learn from these which can be in danger, they are going to most actually be held accountable. I commend our Salt Lake Metropolis brokers and our companions on the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the District of Utah and the Civil Division’s Client Safety Department for judiciously constructing this case and seeing it by means of.”
Federal authorities knowledge reveals that opioid overdoses have resulted in near “650,000 overdose deaths since 1999, “a quantity that’s solely anticipated to develop. Overdoses involving opioids, each authorized and unlawful, skyrocketed through the top of the pandemic, growing “38% in 2020 over the earlier 12 months and one other 15% in 2021,” in line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC). A congressional report launched in October 2022 acknowledged that the financial toll of the disaster in 2020 alone at “$1.5 trillion.”
Doctors who issued illegitimate prescriptions solely assist to gasoline the already crippling disaster.
Sources:
Federal Courtroom Completely Bars Utah Doctor from Issuing Opioid and Managed Substance Prescriptions
Utah doctor banned from prescribing opioids
