Allegiant Experts
Oct 17, 20192 min
The fact that there is an opioid crisis in the
United States is practically common knowledge. With such drugs as fentanyl,
hydromorphone, oxymorphone and oxycodone being so highly addictive, these pain
killers are now known to be the chief causes of overdoses all over the country.
In the past several weeks, many of our blog entries have covered stories about
medical professionals exacerbating our nation’s opioid epidemic. It’s a major
concern that deserves our attention.
“Too many people are leaving hospital with bottles of opioid tablets they don’t need,” report researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland on BMJ.com, “Doctors are routinely overprescribing—giving every patient a bottle of 30-60 highly addictive opioid tablets. Most commonly this is oxycodone written with instructions to take 5-10 mg as needed every 4-6 hours for pain.”
This week’s blog highlights the stories of two physicians who have been brought to justice for their roles in the crisis. Among them is San Diego, California-based Dr. Roger A. Kasendorf. As reported by the Southern District of California branch of the United States Department of Justice yesterday, the osteopathic physician has agreed to pay $125,000 to resolve allegations that he illegally prescribed opioids to his patients.
According to the DoJ report, “Dr. Kasendorf wrote
prescriptions for opioids, including fentanyl, that were not issued for a
legitimate medical purpose and while not acting in the usual course of his
professional practice in violation the Controlled Substances Act and the False
Claims Act.” However, the report goes on to note that “the claims resolved by
this settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of
liability.”
Kasendorf may not have explicitly pleaded guilty to overprescribing opioids, but the owner of a Cincinnati, Ohio-based medical practice did this past Tuesday. In a separate DoJ report, it was revealed that 59 year-old, Dr. Raymond Noschang pleaded guilty to eight counts of unlawful distribution of oxycodone. He has not yet been sentenced.
“As part of his guilty plea, Noschang admitted that
he prescribed controlled substances to patients in amounts and for lengths of
time that were outside the scope of legitimate medical practice,” the report
details, “Noschang also admitted that he routinely prescribed controlled
substances to patients even though various ‘red flags’ suggested that he should
stop writing those prescriptions, change the prescriptions and/or counsel
patients accordingly.”
In addition, Noschang admitted that he prescribed dangerous
combinations of drugs, knowing that they increased the risk of overdose and
death. His guilty plea also included an admission that the amount of drugs
attributable to his conduct is between 400 and 700 kilograms of converted drug
weight.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Allegiant Experts to find out how our clinical expertise may help your case. Our experts have been providing expert clinical services for nearly two decades and can help your team by bridging the disciplines of medicine, coding and billing to ensure accurate payment and data is achieved. Give us a call at 407-217-5831 or email us at info@allegiantexperts.com.
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