Temponeras indicted on federal charges
http://www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/news/154147269/Temponeras-indicted-on-federal-charges
When are we going to see charges in deaths of pts that have died because Pharmacists have refused to fill necessary pain or controlled meds and pts die from withdrawal or suicide because of unrelenting pain ? A conclusion by an examiner in a recent case in the state of MT .. stated that Pharmacist insisting on pts reducing their opiate doses.. was “outside of his scope of practice”.. So are we only going to see repercussions for healthcare provider when they are outside of their scope of practice and pts die… when it only serves the war on drugs agenda ? Since when that a family practice physician can’t treat pain pts ? Where is the scope of practice issue here ?
A former Wheelersburg pain clinic operator, her father and a Portsmouth pharmacist have all been indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio and those charges carry possible life in prison sentences if connections are made to the deaths of patients.
On Wednesday evening, a federal grand jury charged Margaret “Margy” Temponeras, 50, of Portsmouth, John Temponeras, 80, of Portsmouth, and Raymond Fankell, 60, of Wheelersburg, with illegally running a pain clinic and distributing pain killers not for a legitimate purpose and outside the scope of medical practice in an indictment returned in Cincinnati.
Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Joseph P. Reagan, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Field Division, Steven W. Schierholt, Executive Director, Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, and the Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) announced the indictment returned on Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that Margaret Temponeras and John Temponeras were physicians specializing in family practice and OBGYN respectively, who changed their medical focus to pain management and began operating Unique Pain Management LLC in Wheelersburg. Margaret Temponeras also opened Unique Relief LLC in Wheelersburg. Raymond Fankell owned and operated Prime Pharmacy Group Inc., doing business as Medi-Mart Pharmacy in Portsmouth.
It is alleged that all three defendants dispensed diazepam, hydrocodone and oxycodone not for a legitimate purpose and outside the scope of medical practice. Margaret and John Temponeras allegedly “examined” more than 20 customers per day, and provided large amounts of prescription medications to customers that they knew or had a reasonable cause to believe were drug addicts or diverting or selling the medication.
The five-count indictment states that in furtherance of the conspiracy, the father and daughter would charge customers cash amounts that started at approximately $200 per office visit; they would not accept insurance payments. They allegedly referred patients to Fankell to have Fankell fill prescriptions. The court document also indicates that at least eight individuals were found dead after consuming medications prescribed by and dispensed from the defendants.
The three were charged with two counts of illegally distributing medication, which each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a million dollar fine; these charges also carry an enhanced penalty of 20 years to life in prison if death resulted. John Temponeras and Raymond Fankell were charged with one count and Margaret Temponeras with two counts of maintaining a place for the purpose of distributing controlled substance, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.
Stewart commended the investigation of the case by the DEA, FBI, Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, and Ohio HIDTA.
Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.
Filed under: General Problems
I still believe that Margy Temponeras should have to pay for each and every funeral bill that was paid for by the relatives of those who died. I also think instead of the courts getting the million dollar fines she’s paying to them, that money should, along with a lot more be awarded to the parents for pain and suffering. If they are found guilty then isn’t that considered murder? And there is no statute of limitations on murder.
I am truly sorry that you don’t have a support system. My family has been very supportive and understanding. They have watched me go from an extremely active hard working independent man to a barely active and unable to work man who has to depend on others. They have stood by me through thick and thin and I truly appreciate it. Throughout my 8 surgeries I could always count on them all to be there the moment I woke up. This affliction is hard enough, I couldn’t imagine going through everything without them.
Like my wife, she has watched me degrade and gone without the things that she deserves but she’s been there for me every single day, even if I am impossible to deal with. I’m not a man of faith, as a matter of fact I’m not sure if I even believe in God but I do believe in my family. At least I can see them and touch them and I know for a fact that they will be here. I truly hope that you can find someone who is willing to stand by you because no one deserves to suffer through this pain being all alone.
“It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company.” George Washington
“I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude.” Henry David Thoreau
“Solitude is independence.” Hermann Hesse
The specialization of medicine is great — if you can afford it. The cost of seeing a GP compared to a specialist doubles or triples the expense, especially if not approved or covered by insurance.
One of the reasons those who suffer from addiction aren’t getting the help they need is because only addiction specialists are allowed by the DEA to prescribe medications that treat addiction. This has started to change, but it appears GPs have very little interest in attempting to treat addiction. And now, GPs don’t want to treat chronic pain either.
There is a doctor shortage in this country which has been ongoing for a long time, especially in rural areas. Having to travel long distances just to see a pain specialist is expensive and painful, especially for those who are disabled.
Yes I do know about the travel to see a doctor. Not like in Montana or Wyoming but I do understand. Further more, if statistics show that most addiction problems are from illegally obtained opiates then government needs to leave the legitimate medical professionals alone. I agree with Steve, we need to organize because they will not stop unless we make our presence known. The nice thing about today is that we now have social media on the Internet to organize. Just about everybody has a smart phone with internet access even if they don’t have it at home.
I don’t know about you, but I tell everyone I know about this page. I pretty much re-post everything here on to my Facebook page. Unfortunately if others aren’t doing the same, we’ll remain unorganized. Ask your friends and family to help with the fight, I am.
Sorry, I don’t have any friends or family who are interested in learning about chronic pain or fighting for our rights to take drugs.
I guess maybe I should start a new string, the other is getting hard to read. What do you think about my statement that insurance companies may be major contributors to the large numbers of chronic pain sufferers and opiate use today?
Do you think that if insurances would have approved more accurate testing years ago that we might have less people on narcotic medications today?
I feel in my case, if workmen’s compensation would have approved an MRI 15 years ago that I might have had different medical treatments that vary well could have made a difference today. Maybe I would still be able to work and earn a living.
I agree with you.. I have always been a firm believer that if pain was aggressively treated when it first happens.. would not allow the pain path to the brain to become “engrained” and the brain continues to perceive the “pain” when the original source of the pain has been healed… but we – as a society – is too fearful of someone becoming addicted instead of aggressively treating acute pain
So in your honest opinion, what do you think actually needs to be done? Raising awareness is fine but until you can raise awareness with the whole population I’m just not sure how things will work out. I have emailed the news rooms of CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS AND CNBC about this topic and unfortunately I still haven’t heard from them.
I think that the chronic pain community is down to organizing against or for a politician or start suing individual pharmacists on various issues including pt abuse. The chronic pain community plus their spouse or one adult child.. represents more votes than was the total votes cast for BOTH PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TOGETHER. and Obama won by a 4-5 million vote difference.. most national elections are <5% difference between winner and loser. Clinton is talking about raising ONE BILLION for her run for President and JEB is talking about 100 million just for the primary… apparently dollars/advertising buys elections… I always thought that people not dollars voted…
Now that’s a pill mill! Yes physicians only accepting cash and refusing to bill insurance, then providing the name of a pharmacists who more than likely isn’t recording transactions or is falsifying records is something that should be prosecuted. Obviously they were working for shear profit without regards to the well being of the patients. But why the hell are these agencies still worried about binding the hands of the honest doctors who are practicing within the scope of their expertise? They need to be more concerned with finding these illegal operations.
These people are DRUG DEALERS, not doctors. That’s why I believe that family practitioners should only be allowed to prescribe a low dose narcotic with no longer then a 1 week allowance at one time. They should be required to refer these patients to licensed pain specialist for further testing and treatment and this should go for emergency rooms as well.
The key is having the right person to do the right job. Having a physician who will seek alternative treatments for chronic pain and not just simply treat with drugs is a plus. Insurance and workmen’s compensation companies should also be required by law to seek and pay for the proper testing, MRI and CT scans exe. when people are injured so that the proper treatments are administered immediately. This will reduce the chances for long term problems along with reducing the amount of narcotics prescribed in the future while lowering medical costs in the US substantially. The government needs to stop trying to put a square peg in a round hole and use some common sense! Most chronic pain sufferers who are now on narcotic treatments as a direct result of a previous injury were not given adequate treatment in the beginning. Most of this can be attributed to the greed of insurance companies and their refusal to pay for proper testing at the time of the injury. If you find a patient in stage 1 of cancer, you don’t wait until stage 4 to treat them.
That’s why I believe that family practitioners should only be allowed to prescribe a low dose narcotic with no longer then a 1 week allowance at one time
While this may sound like good judgement.. right now .. if every chronic pain pt had to be only seen my a certified pain specialist.. those specialists would have to see between 100 – 150 pts per day… normally a prescriber will see 20-30+ pts/day.. what are the other 100 chronic pain pts suppose to do or where are they going to seek treatment ?
Yes, you would definitely know the statistics way better then me. I really was not aware of the amount of patients to specialists and that’s really staggering. I do know that the change from quarterly to monthly office visits to get my prescriptions has definitely crowded my doctors office. The problem I see is that the dishonest have created problems for the honest once again. Then the DEA is going by the feeling that if they can’t stop all that break the law then they will just stop all.
You are good on statistics, out of the overdoses happening in the US every day, what is the average of people overdosing on their own prescription compared to people who overdose on illegally obtained medications?
I have seen a number as high as 70% of the patients with opiates in their system at death.. did not have a prescription for the legal opiate… HOWEVER… most people that OD.. have a cocktail of legal and illegal drugs as well as alcohol in their system… but.. you normally see the that the legal drug is always the first drug listed as the cause of death. I have recently seen a change in the nomenclature in describing deaths… the bureaucrats have moved away from “accidental drug overdose” to “opiate related death”.. IMO. that is just a new methodology to increase the body count for justifying the war on drugs… they don’t distinguish between suicides, a death from a lethal cocktail , to a pt having a Rx for some opiate or controlled substance and has died of natural causes. As the DEA loses its authority over MJ and MMJ.. they are going to have to find some reasons to maintain or grow their budget.. number of employees and “power” within the federal bureaucracy.
Why aren’t they discussing this on c-span and the national news networks? People are too quick to judge simply by only hearing one side of the story, but if they were given the true facts maybe this out right discrimination would stop and then agencies like the DEA would have to answer for their actions. The problem is that it can’t just be a one man fight, you need an army to fight a war. It seems to me like you’re the only advocate for all, the patients the pharmacist and the whole medical profession. I do understand what you’re trying to do with your blog because I have tried to do the same. I’m a patient with chronic pain not a medical professional. The facts that I get are just what I find on the net, as you probably know chronic pain sufferers don’t usually get a lot of sleep so I’m pretty much surfing all night long. I start my ranting over the severe increase in medical costs due to the rescheduling of opiates, until I found you I really had no idea that this has all been going on for 2 years and that a very serious number of people have lost their prescriptions. I feel sorry for these people and wish I could help more then just telling my story and giving my opinion. Also the online venting seems to relieve some of the stress which in turn helps to relax me. I thank you for your fight and if there is anything I can do at all to help, count me in. I’m ready to roll up Capital Hill if need be.