In recent posts, I have discussed the proliferation of "pill mills," or pain clinics that provide prescription painkillers, such as oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin). These pain clinics have been under attack by law enforcement, especially in Broward County.
Today, I found a grand jury report on the
Broward State Attorney's website. On this website, the grand jury report stated the following:
"Pill Mills are afflicting the health and welfare of the citizens
of our community.
Here in Broward County, Florida, Pill Mills have proliferated at an alarming rate.
Your Grand Jury was empanelled to investigate and review why Pill Mills are
proliferating in Miami-Dade County, what effect they are having on the community, how
Broward County has become a major source of Oxycodone and what can be done to
protect the public from the dangers that may be caused by Pill Mills."
Interim Report of the Broward County Grand Jury: The Proliferation of Pain Clinics in Miami-Dade County, Page 2, Spring Term A.D. 2009.
This grand jury report will only cause more law enforcement resources to
be directed at the arrest and prosecution of prescription drug possession,
sale, and especially trafficking.
As you may know from previous posts, prescription drug trafficking carries
some of the stiffest penalties of ANY crime in the State of Florida. It
is possible for an accused oxycodone trafficker with no prior record to
serve more time in prison than a convicted child molester, murderer, or
armed robber.
In Florida, trafficking in prescription drugs carries huge
mandatory minimum prison sentences. You can face a mandatory (day-for-day time) prison sentence
of 25 years just for being in possession of a handful of pills.
The report went on to say:
"Patients seeking drugs, who go to pain clinics, engage in the “dance” with the
doctor. The patients fake illnesses and complain of nonexistent pain. They produce
altered MRI’s or MRI’s that do not show any injuries. Some
clinic doctors will take cash for the initial visit, spend a few minutes
with the patient for an “exam” and then prescribe a 30 day
cocktail of various narcotics to the patient. Your Grand Jury heard testimony
from law enforcement officials and addicts that the cocktail usually includes:
1) 150 to 240 30 milligram Roxicodone pills, which are Oxycodone; 2) 90
to 100 10 milligram Percocet pills which contain Oxycodone and Tylenol
and is administered for breakthrough pain between the Roxicodone doses;
3) 350 milligram tablets of Soma, which is Carisoprodol and is a muscle
relaxant; and 4) 2 milligram pills of
Xanax, which is Alprazolam and is an anti-anxiety medication given to help patients
with sleep disturbances. Through some doctors, the pain clinics dispense
the cocktail or Oxycodone on site to the patient, for cash only."
Interim Report of the Broward County Grand Jury: The Proliferation of Pain Clinics in Miami-Dade County, Page 4, Spring Term A.D. 2009.
In Miami-Dade and Broward, narcotics prosecutors are dedicating more time,
money, and efforts than ever before toward the prosecution and incarceration
of prescription drug offenders.
In conjunction with these prosecutions, law enforcement agencies are staging
sting operations, surveillance details, and undercover buys in order to
catch suspected traffickers.
If you or someone you know has been arrested for a prescription drug offense,
call me immediately. Trafficking in prescription drugs is arguably the most serious
offense in the State of Florida.