Kahului doctor is charged with illegally prescribing opioids

Paul Kaiwi Jr. is arrested; set to appear in federal court Tuesday

A Maui doctor is charged with illegally prescribing the opioid hydrocodone in a complaint filed this week in federal court.

Paul Kaiwi Jr., 51, was arrested Thursday morning.

The six-count complaint alleges that Kaiwi, who operates Progressive Medical clinics in Kahului and Hilo, illegally prescribed the drug six times from December 2018 to May 2019.

An undercover Drug Enforcement Administration officer posing as a patient received prescriptions for hydrocodone, an opioid used for treatment of acute or chronic pain, despite having no illness or injury requiring pain medication, according to an affidavit supporting the complaint. The undercover officer received the prescriptions during six office visits, each lasting eight minutes or less, at Kaiwi’s Kahului clinic, the affidavit says.

Two physicians who reviewed the undercover officer’s patient file and recordings of the officer’s visits reported the medical record “falsely stated that certain examinations had occurred, when in fact the video recording revealed that they did not,” according to the affidavit.

It said “both experts concluded that all six hydrocodone prescriptions were issued for no legitimate medical purpose.”

An analysis of prescriptions written by Kaiwi from Jan. 2, 2015, to Jan. 22, 2020, showed that 88 percent of patients receiving prescriptions for controlled substances received opioids, according to the affidavit. Opioids were the most prescribed controlled substances, followed by benzodiazepines, which are used mainly for sedation, and carisoprodol, a muscle relaxer, the analysis showed.

The complaint charges Kaiwi with six counts of unlawful distribution of hydrocodone.

Court records show an initial appearance for Kaiwi was scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu.