Doctor in pills for nude photos case faces prison

NORRISTOWN >> A Norristown doctor who prosecutors say violated ethical standards by prescribing drugs, including oxycodone, to addicted female patients in exchange for nude photographs and other sexual favors, is headed to prison.

Joseph Francis Cipriano, 57, whose practice was located at 905 DeKalb St., showed no emotion on Thursday as Montgomery County Judge William R. Carpenter sentenced him to 6½-to-15-years in prison, saying the doctor abused the trust associated with his profession.

“He abused that trust in a dangerous way,” Carpenter said.

Earlier this year, Cipriano,

of the 1600 block of Williams Way, West Norriton, pleaded guilty to felony charges of corrupt organizations and unlawful prescribing of medications in connection with incidents that occurred between January 2013 and April 2018.

“The message needs to be sent that if you are a medical professional and you’re taking advantage of a license, taking advantage of the public trust, you should be severely punished, not just because of your criminal actions but so the message is sent to other people in your position not to cross this line,” said Assistant District Attorney James E. Price II, who argued for a lengthy prison term against Cipriano.

“This doctor wielded the power … to essentially get what he wanted from female patients. That’s what public corruption is all about. This individual took advantage of the public trust,” Price added.

Cipriano apologized for his conduct before learning his fate.

“I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done. I have no one to blame for these actions but myself,” said Cipriano, explaining he made “extremely poor decisions.”

Defense lawyer Timothy Woodward argued there were mitigating factors in the case, saying authorities can’t put the blame for the opioid epidemic solely at the feet of Cipriano.

“Yes, he’s part of it. He played a role, but I reject that he’s a poster boy for the opioid epidemic,” argued Woodward, suggesting the pharmacies and insurance companies also allowed the prescribed drugs to be dispensed.

Woodward characterized

Cipriano as an “introvert,” a “vulnerable” man with poor self-esteem who lacked socialization skills and who spent all his time working and studying during his 25 years as a physician caring for the “poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick” without dating or taking a vacation.

“That’s not an excuse but rather an explanation for the conduct,” Woodward said. “He accepts his fate because he accepts responsibility for what he did. He is wracked with remorse.”

Woodward said Cipriano’s medical license was revoked and “he never again will be able to be a doctor” and that he feels “humiliated and disgraced.”

With the corrupt organization charge, prosecutors alleged Cipriano engaged in a pattern of racketeering, including charging Medicaid for several office visits for a patient who was at the time incarcerated and unable to make office visits.

Prosecutors alleged Cipriano prescribed “tens of thousands” of opioid pills to women during the five-year period. Cipriano, who practiced medicine since 1991, was licensed to prescribe medications to treat drug addicted patients.

Some of the women testified on Thursday that Cipriano prescribed to them drugs that are often abused including oxycodone, Adderall, benzodiazepines and promethazine cough syrup.

The former patients detailed how they would contact Cipriano through various social media platforms to request drugs and said he would issue the prescriptions electronically, call them in to pharmacies or leave them in a mailbox. Some of the women admitted sending Cipriano nude photos or videos.

“A lot of this was partly my fault too. I begged the doctor a lot of times for prescriptions. I lied and manipulated him too,” one woman testified. “I believe he genuinely cared about people.”

When he was questioned by detectives, Cipriano admitted to fulfilling a female patient’s drug dependence “in exchange for his own sexual needs” and engaging in an inappropriate relationship with another female patient “that is of a sexual nature,” detectives alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Detectives alleged Cipriano’s own words during questioning made clear his motive for the improper relationships with young female patients.

“Is it safe to say that you were fulfilling (one woman’s) drug dependency in exchange for your sexual needs?” detectives asked Cipriano, according to court documents.

“That was never the intent but unfortunately, that is what occurred,” Cipriano allegedly told detectives.

The inappropriate contact included “kissing and groping,” detectives alleged.

“This investigation has unearthed patterns of dispensing controlled substances in bad faith, outside the scope of the normal and accepted patient/ doctor relationship and outside the treatment principles accepted by a reasonable segment of the medical profession,” detectives alleged in the criminal complaint.

“Detectives also uncovered Doctor Joseph Cipriano’s manipulation of young female patients to fulfill their drug dependency through the exchange of sexually explicit images/ videos in exchange for the issuance of prescriptions. We also learned of more than one physical sexual relationship for this same purpose,” detectives alleged.