Florida Doctor Indicted By Feds For Illegal Pain Meds
http://health.wusf.usf.edu/post/florida-doctor-indicted-feds-illegal-pain-meds
A northeast Florida doctor has been indicted by a federal grand jury for causing a patient’s death by selling an illegal combination of pain medications.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says 56-year-old Russell Sachs is being charged with four counts, including of dispensing and distributing controlled substances for no legitimate medical purpose.
The indictment says Sachs gave out morphine, which led to the death of a patient.
The Florida Times-Union reports that records show four people died of accidental overdose while in Sachs’ care in 2009.
Sachs told the newspaper that the patient deaths were caused by their own doctor-shopping medication abuse.
If convicted, Sachs faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20-years-to-life in federal prison on count one and up to 20 years for each of the other counts.
Filed under: General Problems
This doctor was my college educated drug dealer. When I was under his “care” my standing prescriptions were 120 hydrocodone (Loratab), 120 Carisoprodol (Soma) and 120 Alprazolam (Xanax). A doctor that is caring and concerned for their patients would not prescribe hydrocodone and alprazolam at the same time. As benzodiazepines potentiate opiates (make their effects stronger), it is a potentially lethal cocktail. I have been sober since 2009 and am thankful that I can even tell the tale.
I would consider this doctor innocent until proven guilty. If the patients chooses to ignore the directions on the bottle or doctor shop it is the patients problem. Of course their actions will affect many. How many people died of street drugs during the same time frame. Another case of the DEA scare tactics.
Unfortunately in our sue happy society, the families are looking for scapegoats and people to blame and the doctors are handy, they can’t accept the truth….and this country needs to repeal the Harrison Act and decriminalize drugs, end the War, quit throwing money at something that’s not working (reduce or defund the DEA) , fix the Mental Health infrastructure…these people have demons they are self medicating. I got so tired of being the police at work and wondering if a NON legit person was going to pull a gun on us when I turned down the sketchy script. (I used to fill in in some bad areas) I try to only work in LTC or hospital now
The people who choose to abuse meds are the problem. Their CHOICES make MY life far more difficult than it already is ordinarily. Think is true for all the other legitimate pain patients. They break the law by choice. I pay for their bad behavior and have absolutely no choice about it.
My husband and I are chronic patient ‘s. We were underr Dr. Sachs, he was very strict about the pain meds he gave out. Went by the book. We stopped going to him about a year before he was arrested because we moved. It shocked us to hear this news. What went wrong De Sachs?
‘this poor doctor’? seriously ??? he was indicted for distributing controlled substances for NO LEGITIMATE MEDICAL PURPOSE. why do you fail to understand that this asshole is part of the problem? he isn’t treating patients. he’s dealing drugs and doing it because he has a medical license. if not for bad doctors like this, REAL pain patients would have a much easier time getting their drugs because there would be less suspicion among the pharmacists. this creep needs to be sent away. you need to stop making excuses for crimes committed in the name of pain.
I don’t think you read the whole story. This doctor followed the same requirements as other pain doctors — the contracts, the drug tests, etc. He was indicted because there is a war against pain patients and doctors, in case you haven’t been paying attention.
Does anybody believe the DEA needs facts to take down a pain doctor or patient? I’m sure Dr. Mark Ibsen might have something to say about that.
If this doctor is “dealing drugs,” than every single doctor that writes a prescription is also dealing drugs. And Big Pharma, insurance companies, and pharmacists are the drug dealers.
Pain patients can keep playing the blame game if they want, but in my opinion, it’s just a waste of time. Keep pointing the finger at everybody but yourself, Mr. Sarraf, and see how far that gets you.
And isn’t it funny how easy it is for you to play judge, jury, and executioner with a man’s life. You, sir, are the creep.
Perfect comment Painkills2!
it is time to
sue the
dea for suicides from their agenda to force millons off their pain meds , forcing withdrawls , invasion of privacy in o tolerance drug tests , it can be a legal substance , it is so obsean as our vets are treated like potential addicts , forced thru contracts and pee tests to get medications we all medical rights to , Forcing phycisians to be cops, it really is worse every year as the war perist . Pain patients rarely overdose , yet they are committing suicide and our vets forced into withdrwls is criminal , The DEA has been at war with the general public too long , as they do not care about inflicting pain . Most recently bragging about their new statistics of millions dropped , they must be sued and pain patient rights to be treated as a patient , Addiction is a separate issue . Doctors are forced to engage with massive risks in medicne . many will not treat pain , they have had enough of their war . we could be like Gandi when he went down to the sea and harvested salt , the creation is our heritage , our right to exist , our right toget intoxicated . The UN long ago held these drug wars as crimes against human rights , Study what the drugs war have brought you , dictators one and all , even the people go along with it like the god little soldiers, knowing very little until we face it face to face. My regards to this doctor , I am sure there are better ways to stop people from killing themselves , millions of farmers , some drinking monsantos pesticieds , massive suicieds in e very secter , why
I never see a liquor store owner being “sent away” when someone buys liquor from them and then goes out driving and kills someone. I never see a convenience store owner being “sent away” because someone buys a pack of cigarettes from them and then dies of lung cancer. My, we have different sets of rules. Now, I agree, IF this doctor is actually just pedaling drugs, he needs to be punished. However, if these patients caused their own deaths by doctor shopping, then they are responsible, not the doctor. I am sick of our pain doctors bearing the brunt of other people’s poor choices.
Yep!!
Oh, I’m sorry, did you review his medical records on these patients???? Then STFU!
Who will stand up for Dr. Sachs against the DEA? Maybe other doctors? How about the National Pain Foundation or the American Pain Foundation? State Medical Board? ACLU?
No, this poor doctor will have to pay an attorney to stand up for him.
So, what happens to his patients? Any plan in place to make sure they aren’t forced to find their medications on the street? Or forced to commit suicide?
Unfortunately, so many doctors are scared, they seem not to stand for each other. It’s a cover your ass syndrome. I’m just tired of true pain patients having to suffer because of jerks like this. People overdose on Amitriptyline too, so why not stop prescribing that!!! This situation is a shit show!