CASE 22-6000: U.S. SUPREME COURT FAILURE TO GRANT CERT PETITION “CLEMENT vs. DEA,” INADVERTENTLY SANCTIONS DEA’s MIS-BEHAVIORS, ABUSES AND PAIN PATIENT’S DEATHS
PROVIDERS BY DOJ-DEA
Leo Beletsky of Northeastern calls the government crackdown on prescribers getting indicted low-hanging fruit. “The DEA measures success based on the number of arrests and prosecutions. Doctors are minor players. The DEA convicted two hundred sixty-three physicians on charges between 2003-2017, and over 3000 were forced to surrender their licenses.
a) They create their targets.
b) Who is the biggest prescriber in a region, state, and nationwide? They are investigated.
c) Who does the most procedures?
e) They use ‘flags’ like distance traveled, forgetting that by disincentivizing and terrorizing prescribers, there is no one left to prescribe, and patients must travel farther for the same services.
The flags created during the pill mill era are now self-perpetuating. If you mine data enough, you might find something, and law enforcement can access data without individualized suspicion, probable cause, or any judicial review.
“Numbers alone can’t determine whether a crime has been committed: The ‘normal’ amount of opioid prescribing for a physician treating pain or addiction will inevitably be much higher than the average for all doctors or the typical amount in most other specialties.”
THEY CREATE THEIR TARGETS: POMPY PAIN AND PROSECUTION
WEST VIRGINIA vs. EPA
“The Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA reminds us that oftentimes an agency must point to “clear congressional authorization” for the authority it claims. No. 20-1530 (2022) (slip op. at 17-19).
In “extraordinary cases”, those in which “history and the breadth of the authority that [the agency] has asserted, and the economic and political significance of that assertion, provide a reason to hesitate before concluding that Congress meant to confer such authority”, prec- edent advises that an agency must point to “clear con- gressional authorization” for the authority it claims. Id. at 17 (quotations and citation omitted). The DEA’s interpretation of § 1306.04(a) is clearly an “extraordinary case” given the Court’s findings in Gonzales, 546 U.S. at 265-66.”
FROM THE PHARMACIST STREVE FILES
DOJ-DEA HELL BENT ON GETTING AROUND RUAN
“Jessica Fujimaki suffered from a rare disorder called arachnoiditis. A common cause of this very painful and irreversible health issues is a error or “sloppy technique” of a practitioner doing a ESI procedure ( Epidural Spinal Injection). Anything that is injected into the spinal fluid must not only be sterile but must be preservative free and only a SOLUTION – NOT A SUSPENSION. ESI involve the injecting of a corticosteroid in the EPIDURAL SPACE – NOT IN THE SPINAL FLUID.
Jessica Fujimaki, 42, died in December, shortly after the DEA shut down her pain doctor. Image via GoFundMe campaign.
If the practitioner pushes the needle “a tad too far’ and accidentally injects the corticosteroid into the spinal fluid and the patients ends up with a VERY PAINFUL and IRREVERSIBLE MEDICAL ISSUE. Outcomes – such as Jessica Fujimaki – is potentially what happens when these patients lose any/all pain management. Likewise for Danny & Gretchen Elliott,
As long as our law/judicial system is entitled to qualified immunity https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/legal-digest/legal-digest-qualified-immunity-how-it-protects-law-enforcement-officers it would seem that they will do as they damn please and they have no consequences.”
COURT IGNORING THE PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGER SCRIPT SCAMS
The DEA ShutS Down a Pain Doctor. Now three People Are Dead
Dr. Bockoff has shown compassion beyond any doctor I have ever worked with, he is well versed in medicine and is cutting edge. my doctor for life, just try him once and you’ll never go back! the staff has become family to me.
“After a California doctor was labeled an “imminent danger” to the public, the consequences were devastating for his patients and their families.
First, there was the double suicide—a husband and wife from Georgia who took their lives one week after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) suspended the license of their doctor, David Bockoff, a pain specialist in Beverly Hills. After Bockoff lost his ability to prescribe fentanyl and other powerful painkillers on Nov. 1, dozens of his patients became “opioid refugees” with nowhere to turn. The third death came barely a month later.
This Couple Died by Suicide After the DEA Shut Down Their Pain Doctor
Another ex-Bockoff patient, 42-year-old Jessica Fujimaki, died Dec. 10 at her home near Phoenix. Autopsy results are pending, but her husband told VICE News he believes the cause of death was complications related to opioid withdrawal and medical conditions that caused severe chronic pain. She left behind two daughters, ages 13 and 11.
The DEA alleges Bockoff prescribed “alarmingly high dosages” of opioids to multiple patients, posing an “imminent danger” to the public. The doctor—who does not currently face any criminal charges—is attempting to fight back in civil court, denying any misconduct and alleging that DEA agents are the ones responsible for harming the public by effectively shutting down his practice with no consideration for people who relied on medications he prescribed.
“Much like a diabetic is dependent on insulin,” Bockoff’s attorney wrote in one court filing, “taking away the controlled substances allowed only by prescription from a DEA registered physician can be life threatening.”
On Tuesday afternoon, a federal judge in Los Angeles denied Bockoff’s request to override the DEA and restore his authority to prescribe, citing “serious concerns about the improper dispensing of highly addictive and frequently abused substances that can have devastating consequences.”
But exclusive interviews with Bockoff patients and court documents reviewed by VICE News make it appear as though the devastation came only after the DEA intervened against Bockoff, sending his patients into desperate spirals to stave off withdrawals and manage their pain.
Jessica Fujimaki’s husband Tad said his wife was a gymnast and ballroom dancer when she was younger, but she suffered from a rare disorder called arachnoiditis, which in recent years combined with other health problems to leave her unable to function without pain medications.
Jessica began seeing Bockoff in late 2021. After years of the DEA cracking down on “so called,” over-prescribing and billions of dollars worth of settlements against the pharmaceutical industry for helping to create an overdose crisis, finding a pain doctor was no easy feat. While illicit fentanyl smuggled across the border by Mexican cartels is fueling record overdoses, prescription medications have become more tightly controlled, with doctors, pharmacists, and insurers becoming highly restrictive with opioids under the threat of DEA raids and civil litigation.”
THE CLAW BACK: WHY IT’S BETTER TO PAY CASH AS THE US SUPREME COURT IGNORES GAG CLAUSES AND REBATES
The 80-year-old Bockoff had been a specialist in the field for over two decades and was one of the few physicians willing to treat Fujimaki and others with complex conditions and dependencies on high levels of opioids. In court filings, his lawyers called him “the last option for many patients with severe chronic pain.” Records show a medical expert consulted by the DEA raised concerns about five patients on unusually large doses of fentanyl and other drugs.
In a phone call with VICE News, Bockoff said of those five cases flagged by the DEA: “They typify my patients—I try to give absolutely the best quality of care possible.” Court records show those five patients disagree with the DEA expert’s assessment and are willing to testify on behalf of Bockoff in his efforts to get his DEA license renewed.
Bockoff said he fell into pain management as a speciality 30 years into his medical career, taking satisfaction in improving the quality of life for people with excruciating conditions.
“There have been ups and downs through the decades with regard to the governmental view of opioids,” Bockoff said. “Hopefully we’re in a climate now where we’re a little more supportive of intractable pain patients, but I’m not sure.”
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DEA TAKES ISSUE WITH BOCKOFF, HOWEVER LACKS ANY AUTHORITY TO DICTATE THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE
“The DEA has also taken issue with Bockoff’s record keeping and patient intake process, but Tad Fujimaki said Bockoff was always professional with his wife’s treatment, requiring a thorough screening and regular check-ups to get prescriptions renewed. Her last visit was Oct. 31, a day before the DEA visited Bockoff’s office and suspended his license. Their pharmacy declined to fill the prescription, leaving her with a limited supply.
“It’s not like my wife could see a primary care provider and have him prescribe Percocet or something,” Fujimaki said. “No, it doesn’t work that way. We tried so many pain management doctors and nobody would take her because she’s so complicated.”
The Fujimakis ultimately resorted to taking a trip across the border from Arizona into Mexico, where they purchased opioid pills at a pharmacy to help Jessica manage withdrawals. “But the day before Thanksgiving shit hit the fan, basically,” he said.
It seemed like she was having a heart attack and couldn’t move, he recalled. She went to the emergency room and received some opioids, but not her normal prescription. She died two weeks later. Tad believes her death was caused by stress on her organs and high blood pressure linked to the withdrawals. She was stable until the upheaval caused by the DEA action against Bockoff.
“Whoever signed off on the decision to suspend Dr. Bockoff’s license must’ve had a healthy family to go back to,” Fujimaki said. “They just don’t understand why we need these medications. They don’t even think about it. But there are patients who need this medicine to have a decent quality of life.”
In court filings, lawyers for the DEA said Bockoff’s patients needed treatment because of “his unsafe practices contributing to their opioid dependency and addiction,” adding that, “while it would be regrettable that Dr. Bockoff’s patients may face hardships,” there are other resources available, such as detox and rehab programs.
The patients who arrived at Bockoff’s office after the DEA suspension received a list of emergency rooms in the LA area where they could be treated—not for their pain issues, but for their severe withdrawal symptoms from losing their prescriptions.
For the patients and their advocates, the notion that they were addicts or victims is absurd. One wrote a letter to the court in Los Angeles saying the doctor’s care had given them a new lease on life.
“This pain medication allows me to practice law and serve as a prominent traumatic brain injury litigator for the largest personal injury firm in California,” wrote the patient, identified by the initials E.C., in a letter reviewed by VICE News. “Dr. Bockoff counsels me on how to manage my pain and prescribes medication for me that allows me to manage my pain so I can be a contributing member of society.”
Another patient, identified by the initials D.L., wrote to the court that they and other Bockoff patients were “in unbearable pain and many contemplating suicide” since the DEA action.”
DEA STATED IN Scotus CASE 22-6000, “agency lacks authority to issue guidelines“
However, according to the DEA it lacks the authority to issue guidelines that constitute advice relating to the general practice of medicine. The DEA DEA has not promulgated new regulations regarding the treatment of pain. Federal law and DEA regulations do not impose a specific quantitative minimum or maximum limit on the amount of medication that may be prescribed on a single prescription on the duration of treatment intended with the prescribed controlled substance.
The DEA has consistently emphasized and supported the prescriptive authority of an individual practitioner under the CSA to administer, dispense, and prescribe controlled substances for the legitimate treatment of pain within acceptable medical standards.
This is outlined in the DEA’s policy statement published in the Federal Register (FR) on September 6, 2006, titled, Dispensing Controlled Substances for the Treatment of Pain, 71 FR 52716.
Thomas W. Prevoznik, DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division, LETTER To: Richard A. Lawhern, Ph.D. DATED FEBRUARY 12, 2021
1. (See exhibit 5-6F, Letter dated February 12, 2021, from Thomas W. Prevoznik, DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division, to Richard A. Lawhern, Ph.D. 3691 Nestling Lane Fort Mill, South Carolina 29708 lawhern@hotmail.com )
Thomas W. Prevoznik, DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division, LETTER To: KEVIN NICHOLSON, RPH. DATED NOVEMBER 04, 2019
2. (See exhibit 5-4D, letter dated November 04, 2019, from Thomas W. Prevoznik, Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division, to Kevin N. Nicholson, R.Ph., J.D.Vice President, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs National Association of Chain Drug Stores1776 Wilson Boulevard Suite 200 Arlington, Virginia 22209)
Thomas W. Prevoznik, DEA Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division, LETTER To: Walter F. Wrenn MD DATED April 16, 2022
3. See letter dated April 16, 2022, from Thomas W. Prevoznik, Deputy Assistant Administrator Diversion Control Division, to Walter F. Wrenn, MD.
Further;
DEA’s Letter To Congresswoman Grace Meng, Member of Congress Sixty District of New York, DATED DECEMBER 18, 2021
“As a Law Enforcement agency, DEA is not in a position to authorize or dictate what a doctor prescribes to a patient. DEA cannot grant waivers of any kind when it comes to the practice of medicine because no such waiver exists as the United States’ component body charged with the management of controlled substances and chemicals for scientific, medical research, and industrial applications; the DEA regulates the flow of control substances, not the practice of medicine. The changing prescribing practices of practitioners are derived by a shift to prescribe medicine consistent with guidance issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, along with guidance and recommendations of state boards of medicine.”
_________________________
EXHIBIT 5-3C Norman Clement vs. DEA
3. (See exhibit 5-3c Congresswoman Grace Meng, Member of Congress Sixty District of New York, December 18, 2019). However, Pharmacists and pharmacies also get contradictory guidance from federal health agencies and even the DEA, which often disagrees with the plaintiffs’ theory that pharmacists should interfere with a doctor’s individualized medical judgment.(ibid 4)(5)
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5. https://open.spotify.com/episode/2XcLGf4PCN0wNVLjxyAze6? si=EpDSJrvYTlCuiWwYqXUgWw
An undated image of Danny and Gretchen Elliott. Provided photo.
ANALYSIS
Therefore, Congress did not even leave it to DEA to perform one of its core CSA functions—the scheduling of controlled substances— without health care agency oversight and evaluation. See id. § 811(b) (“The Attorney General shall, before initiating proceedings . . . [to schedule or reschedule a drug] . . . request from the [HHS] Secretary a scientific and medical evaluation, . . . The recommendations of the Secretary to the Attorney General shall be binding . . . as to such scientific and medical matters.”).
Jessica Fujimaki, 42, with her husband Tad.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King 1968
“Yes the hour is dark, evil comes forth in the guise of good. It is a time of double talk when men in high places have a high blood pressure of deceptive rhetoric and an anemia of concrete performance.”
Then how is it that, DEA through comes forth in the guise of good and in this time of double talk when both men and women sitting in high places (Supreme Court of the United States) have a high blood pressure of deceptive rhetoric of “except as authorize, knowing and intentionally,” which they have failed to enforce within an anemia of concrete performance???
In which David Bockoff MD., faces life in prison, Norman Clement a Pharmacist/Dentist and are both classified along with countless other medical professionals whom have been authorized as a street drug dealers and their properties stolen without due process under forfeiture laws while Jessica Fujimaki, Danny & Gretchen Elliott along WITH thousands of other are needlessly dead through United States Drug Enforcement Administration Unauthorized Authority.
FOR NOW, YOU ARE WITHIN
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LOW HANGING FRUIT
Filed under: General Problems
I’d like to see a law enacted that specifically states that no elected official can be prescribed any type of pain relief! I realize how ridiculous it is to say that because they write the laws for the most part, but I’m so angry!
JMO,,,,,, until there is a ,”fear,,,” greater then the greed/drive for $$$,,,,,,,we are just going to keep getting tortured to death/murdered for $$$ ,,,,,,Sanctioned by the very people who were suppose to protect us,Believe it or not,,,this is history repeating itself,,,
.We are rank dead last in healthcare…Our healthcare in America is a mess,,,it truly is the dark age of medicine and will go down in history as the dark age of medicine,,,the agenda of A..k, ,”let em die pff,” is in full swing,,,jmo,,maryw,,
I think this is The major spot that needs Serious Questioning and where DEA should absolutely be sued. State medical boards should be the only entity to regulate doctors, period. DEA is Not Qualified nor has any, zero medical education to decide any such claims on prescribing. This exactly what everyone NEEDS to be asking Congress. Ask HOW and WHY are they allowing DEA to have this kind of control over the medical profession??? Make it known how patients are dying. Dont bother speaking to HHS. No go to Congress. Isn’t Congress who is in charge of regulating agencies?
What DEA has been doing doesnt even sound legal to me. Who gave them the authority to go after medical doctors? I wondered this back when Rick Scott and Pam Bondi were having DEA go after physicians in Florida way back.
I dont recall anyone or any group going to congress asking how DEA can make decisions on how much medication pain doctors can prescribe. DEA has overstepped the boundary of their profession. It makes no common sense and if Congress could be made to see this? Things could change and perhaps many doctors let out of prison.
law 42-1395 forbids the DEA from practicng medicine,,,however,,in 2021,,,they saw fit via Executive order,,to deem ALLL opiates as a narcotic if not used for acute care only,,Soo they just change the laws when the laws protect us/doctors,,,jmo,,maryw
Though damning evidence is piling up, those with the power to stop this madness continue to turn a blind eye to it.
I read earlier that NYU sanctioned two cancer doctors for alleged ‘inappropriate’ prescribing. I take that to mean their patients must have gotten relief. Can’t have that now, can they?
Perhaps if our representatives were also forced to adhere to the standards that the rest of us are held to, they’d finally find their conspicuously absent compassion and empathy.