Ex- Montco doctor faces jail for unlawfully dispensing opioids

NORRISTOWN>> A judgeprescribed some time behind bars for a former Lower Moreland doctor, saying he risked his onetime patients’ lives by unlawfully dispensing opioid drugs during what prosecutors described as a “concierge service” from his living room.

“You knew better by virtue of your training and experience. You knew about the opioid crisis… and you essentially broke the law,” Montgomery County Judge Richard P. Haaz said as he sentenced ex- doctor Joseph M. Rybicki to 6- to- 23months in the county jail.

“You risked your patients’ health and placed them in danger, potentially fatal jeopardy. You are fortunate no deaths occurred,” Haaz added.

Rybicki, 60, formerly of the 1300 block of Grasshopper Road, also must complete two years’ probation following parole, meaning he will be under court supervision for about four years. Rybicki must complete 250 hours of community service.

The judge ordered Rybicki to report to the jail in Lower Providence on Aug. 5 to begin serving the sentence. Rybicki is eligible for the jail’s work- release program during his incarceration.

Rybicki, most recently of Haddonfield, N. J., previously pleaded guilty to charges of violating state drug laws by unlawfully prescribing controlled substances and obtaining controlled substances by fraud for his personal consumption between October 2015 and June 2016.

With the charges, Assistant District Attorney James E. Price II alleged Rybicki, after his Philadelphia practice ceased operations in October 2015, began providing patients with hundreds of prescriptions for narcotics through the mail in exchange for a monthly fee, business he conducted from his Lower Moreland home without

ever seeing patients.

“He made the decision to keep the boat afloat. These medications are extremely dangerous and he knew that because he himself was addicted. He continued to send these prescriptions without any medical monitoring. He risked people’s lives,” argued Price, who sought a jail term against Rybicki.

Price alleged Rybicki, who practiced osteopathic medicine, essentially was operating a “concierge service.”

Prosecutors also accused Rybicki of writing opioid prescriptions for his personal use and issuing prescriptions in a relative’s name to conceal it.

Defense lawyer Daniel Theveny Jr. sought leniency on behalf of Rybicki, arguing the former doctor lost his practice, his career and his home as a result of his conduct and suggested a sentence should focus more on rehabilitation than on incarceration. Theveny said Rybicki suffered childhood trauma and sought counseling for his later addiction, is in recovery and now counsels other physicians facing addiction issues.

Theveny argued Rybicki did not act maliciously.

“It was a crime of addiction and desperation. It was not a crime of greed,” argued Theveny, maintaining Rybickiwas not accepting new patients but was maintaining patients on medications they had previously been prescribed.

Before learning his fate from the judge, Rybicki appeared to wipe tears from his eyes as he apologized for his conduct. Rybicki maintained he was trying to provide care to patients at a timewhen his own addiction was spiraling out of control.

“I take full responsibility for my actions. I never meant for any of this to happen. I never meant to harm anyone,” Rybicki addressed the judge. “I just wanted to treat my patients. That’s all I wanted to do.”

Several friends and former patients of Rybicki described him as “a good man who made a mistake while he was sick” and as a doctor who once provided “excellent care.”

The investigation began on April 6, 2016, when LowerMoreland police were dispatched to Rybicki’s home for a reported disturbance and found a man parked in the driveway of the home blaring his car’s horn, according to the criminal complaint.

The man told police he had been a patient of Rybicki’s and that he had paid the doctor “thousands of dollars for prescriptions” for pain management. The man said he would pick up the prescriptions personally from Rybicki, sometimes from Rybicki’s mailbox outside the residence. The man complained he was unable to obtain hismedical records from the doctor.

Authorities contacted the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration and determined Rybicki “had been writing copious amounts of prescriptions” for pain medications such as oxycodone to multiple people since his Philadelphia office closed inOctober 2015, according to the criminal complaint filed by Lower Moreland Police Officer Matthew Kolar and DEA Task Force Officer James Sesher.

During the investigation, authorities called a phone number linked to Rybicki.

Rybicki