Maine Doctor Charged Over Illegal Opioid

What Happened

A Maine doctor was arrested in Kennebunk in October 2022 on federal charges of illegally distributing opioids and other controlled substances. According to court documents, Merideth C. Norris, D.O., 52, allegedly prescribed opioids and other controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. She was charged in an indictment with 10 counts of illegal distribution and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the top counts if convicted. As a condition of release, she cannot prescribe any Schedule II-V controlled substances. An indictment is merely an allegation.

“Norris is charged in an indictment with 10 counts of illegal distribution of opioids and other controlled substances.”
U.S. Department of Justice / U.S. Attorney's Office press release, Oct 26, 2022

Related Guidance

15 Red Flags of Drug Diversion — Behavioral and transactional indicators of diversion.
Investigation Playbook — How to investigate suspected diversion inside an organization.

Sources

U.S. Department of Justice / U.S. Attorney's Office press release, Oct 26, 2022

Case at a Glance

Setting: Physician practice
Drug: Opioids and other controlled substances
Method: Prescribing outside the usual course of professional practice
Status: Arrested and indicted on 10 counts, October 2022; release condition bars prescribing Schedule II-V drugs

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

What this case shows

Where this record connects to the site's working material. Links are chosen from the case's setting, drug and method fields.

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Last reviewed: September 2026 · Educational content, not legal advice.

About the author

DivertGuard is built and maintained by Alex Rodriguez, MHIIM, CPhT (also known as Jesus Rodriguez) — a drug diversion prevention program manager with more than a decade in pharmacy practice, including direct responsibility for a health-system controlled substance diversion prevention program.

Conference presentations

2025 — The Rounding Revolution: A High-Tech Approach to Diversion Prevention (with Emily Spiceland, PharmD)
2024 — No Pill Left Behind: Strategies for Comprehensive Drug Accountability (with Eric Andrews)
2022 — Ready for My Close Up! Implementing, Maintaining, and Expanding Drug Diversion Prevention Cameras (with Jeremy Quinn, Shawn Young, and John Bailey)

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Faculty, ASHP Drug Diversion Certificate
Speaker, Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA)
Published author, Pharmacy Purchasing & Products

Credentials

Doctorate candidate — Doctor of Health Informatics (DHI), Rutgers University, School of Health Professions; research on health data analytics and the prediction of cognitive decline
MHIIM — master's in health informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center (2019–2021)
CPhT — Certified Pharmacy Technician, with 10+ years of pharmacy practice across retail, hospice, compounding, home-health, and hospital settings

The assessment items, weighting, and case registry behind this site come from that operational background — building and running a diversion prevention program, not from vendor marketing. Every tool here is free, requires no signup, and is based on published regulatory and professional standards (DEA, Joint Commission, ASHP, CDC).

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Penalty Outcomes in the Case Records

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Registry Insights: Sentences, Fines, States and Outcomes

Sentence lengths, fines and restitution, cases per 100,000 pharmacists by state, and plea and licence outcomes, each counted from the case records with its n, plus charts of cases by year, state and drug class

Maine Doctor Charged Over Illegal Opioid Distribution