What Happened
In June 2021, Albert T. Nguyen, M.D., owner and sole physician at the Budget Medical Clinic in Oklahoma City, paid $325,000 to settle civil penalty claims under the Controlled Substances Act. The United States alleged that from about November 2016 to May 2017 he operated two clinic locations and, while seeing patients at one, routinely left pre-signed blank prescriptions at the other. Non-physician practitioners allegedly used them to issue controlled substance prescriptions they lacked authority to prescribe, not in the usual course of professional practice. Dr. Nguyen did not admit liability, and the government made no concessions about the claims.
“he routinely left pre-signed, blank prescriptions at the other location”
Related Guidance
- 15 Red Flags of Drug Diversion — Behavioral and transactional indicators of diversion.
- Investigation Playbook — How to investigate suspected diversion inside an organization.