Doc gets probations for opioid prescriptions
A former Hatfield Township doctor will be under court supervision for unlawfully prescribing opioid drugs to patients.
“The safety of the public is protected. He’ll no longer be able to do this again.” - Montgomery County Prosecutor James Price II
NORRISTOWN >> A former Hatfield Township doctor will be under court supervision for eight years after he entered a no contest plea to charges he unlawfully prescribed opioid drugs to patients.
Lawrence Ian Miller, 49, whose practice was located in the 1000 of Walnut Street in Hatfield, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday to eight years of “non-reporting probation” in connection with incidents that occurred between June 2013 and June 2018. Miller previously pleaded no contest to felony charges of unlawful prescribing of controlled substances.
A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is an admission that prosecutors have sufficient evidence to prove the charges at trial.
Miller also is prohibited from practicing medicine and cannot apply to have his license, through the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, reinstated to prescribe medications during the probationary period.
Miller also must complete 200 hours of community service as a condition of the sentence.
Assistant District Attorney James E. Price II said the prosecution accepts the sentence and “finds it just.”
“He’ll unlikely never get his DEA license back. The safety of the public is protected. He’ll no longer be able to do this again. We do believe that in terms of community safety, essentially that’s been fulfilled,” said Price, explaining community protection was paramount.
Price explained that unlike other cases involving doctors who are accused of unlawfully prescribing medications Miller “wasn’t what you would consider a typical pill mill where he was profiting off the scripts.” Additionally, many of Miller’s former patients reportedly said he was beloved in the community and claimed he provided proper care to them, another mitigating factor in Miller’s favor, according to prosecutors.
The probationary sentence was permissible under state sentencing guidelines for the crime.
The sentence was imposed by Judge Wendy G. Rothstein. Defense lawyer Brian J. McMonagle represented Miller.
Other charges of corrupt organizations and criminal use of a communication facility were dismissed against Miller.
With the charges, authorities alleged an investigation revealed that drug dependent people became attracted to Miller’s practice after he prescribed large amounts of controlled substances to patients with little or no other medical treatment. Miller recklessly prescribed opioids and other drugs in quantities far outside accepted medical norms, prosecutors alleged.
Detectives said they received information about Miller from confidential informants and concerned relatives of those addicted to narcotics.
“Many of these individuals identified by law enforcement were drug dependent persons. Many patients exhibited clear signs of their addiction to Dr. Miller while some directly informed him of their substance abuse issues, but Dr. Miller persisted in prescribing controlled substances,” Hatfield Township Detective
Richard F. Hoffner alleged in the criminal complaint.
Detectives also contacted the county coroner’s office and learned that nine of Miller’s patients had died of overdoses. Police pointed out that although most died from a combination of drugs, including street drugs, the individuals had received prescriptions from Miller near the time of their deaths.
Detectives alleged that in some cases, Miller would issue single prescriptions of more than 500 pills of opioid painkillers and that he would prescribe medication without evaluating the patients.
While conducting surveillance at Miller’s office, detectives identified patients who were selling their prescribed oxycodone medication, according to the criminal complaint.
“One patient who was consistently prescribed oxycodone by Dr. Miller was stopped by law enforcement after leaving his office with obvious physical signs of drug addiction including visible track marks on both arms,” Hoffner alleged in the arrest affidavit.
In June 2018, detectives armed with a warrant searched Miller’s family practice and seized patient files and other evidence “which showed Dr. Miller was over prescribing controlled substances to his patients and prescribing controlled substances to drug dependent persons,” according to court documents.
“Many of these patient files detail how Dr. Miller would write patients numerous controlled substances on a monthly basis but would not examine the patient for extended periods of time,” Hoffner alleged. “In one case, a patient, who later died of a drug overdose, had no examinations for a year despite being prescribed large amount of methadone and benzodiazepines monthly during that same period.”