N. Hills doctor accused of running ‘pill mill’ that led to overdose deaths
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The website of Medical Frontiers in the Richland Mall says the pain clinic takes a holistic approach to its patients because the practice refuses to believe that “the only solution are painkillers.”
But federal agents say the owner, Andrzej Zielke, dealt almost exclusively in painkillers, running a pill mill for cash that drew addicts from as far off as Virginia and resulted in at least three overdose deaths.
One informant told the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that the clinic was obviously handing out prescriptions for addicts, “with patients often seen packed into and sometimes sleeping in the waiting area.” One patient arrived so strung out that she could not carry on a conversation yet still received her script. Others were described as nearly “falling over” when they arrived because they were so high.
Dr. Zielke is out of business, the clinic shut down.
He was charged this week with illegally prescribing narcotic painkillers to patients with no medical need and without performing any tests.
A federal complaint was filed Wednesday under seal and on Thursday FBI agents and other law officers raided the clinic and the doctor’s house in Hampton, where his wife handled the books for the practice. The case was unsealed Friday.
The doctor hung up when reached at home by phone. His lawyer did not return a message Friday.
According to an affidavit, FBI informants said Dr. Zielke has long been prescribing painkillers for addicts, including one identified only as “B.R.,” who died of an overdose of oxymorphone and other drugs in December 2014. Almost all of the prescriptions were filled at a Medicine Shoppe in Oakmont, including pills Dr. Zielke prescribed for his father in Canada, agents said.
The pharmacy declined to comment Friday.
The investigation began in November 2014 when a source told the FBI that Dr. Zielke was a pill source for addicts in McKeesport. One of those addicts was “B.R.,” who had been sent to Dr. Zielke by a drug dealer to acquire pills for distribution. An informant said the dealer recruited others to be “patients,” many using aliases, to get prescriptions from Dr. Zielke.
“B.R.” died on Dec. 22, 2014, five days after Dr. Zielke had prescribed pills. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid said two other of Dr. Zielke’s patients also had died of overdoses.
Patients and former office staffers told agents that Dr. Zielke ran a cash business, charging $250 for office visits and dispensing painkiller prescriptions after cursory conversations with patients. He didn’t update files with progress reports or otherwise treat patients for their pain, informants said.
One former staff member said patients often complained of being addicted, with some traveling from Ohio and Virginia to get prescriptions because their own doctors would no longer prescribe.
A magistrate judge released him on a $20,000 bond pending trial.