A medical center in southeast Missouri agreed in September 2021 to pay more than $1.6 million to resolve a civil suit brought by the United States under the Controlled Substances Act. The government alleged that a physician employed by the medical center, practicing in Farmington, Missouri, issued prescriptions for controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of professional practice.
According to the suit, the prescriptions involved opioids such as morphine, hydromorphone and oxycodone, written at the same time as muscle relaxers and benzodiazepines. The government described these combinations as ones that enhance the euphoric effects of opioids and are commonly sought by people with substance use disorders. The physician was alleged to have continued prescribing despite warning signs of diversion or misuse, including aberrant urine drug test results and patients' prior hospital treatment for problems related to drug misuse.
The case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The medical center fully cooperated with the investigation. The settlement resolves the government's claims and is not a finding of liability.
Separately from the settlement, the medical center said it had incorporated a foundation in August 2021, funded with an initial $1 million contribution, to support education for physicians and other healthcare professionals in southeast Missouri on best practices in opioid prescribing and chronic pain management. As part of the settlement, it also agreed to continue cooperating with the investigation of individuals not released by the agreement, including by furnishing prescribing records.