BurlCo pharmacist gets 15 years in prison for role in pill mill
A Medford, New Jersey, pharmacist was sentenced Thursday to 180 months in prison for illegally distributing and dispensing oxycodone from two pharmacies.
Michael Ludwikowski, 46, the owner of Olde Medford Pharmacy and Medford Family Pharmacy, was previously convicted of six counts in an indictment charging him with illegally distributing and dispensing oxycodone and maintaining a drug-involved premises. He was convicted following a five-week trial.
According to prosecutors in the case, from March 2008 through August 2013,
Ludwikowski, the pharmacist-in-charge of Olde Medford Pharmacy, and his employee, David M. Goldfield, 60, of Medford Lakes, knowingly distributed and dispensed oxycodone and other controlled substances to individuals, including addicts, who presented phony prescriptions.
Ludwikowski ordered large quantities of oxycodone from a national distributor, and
his pharmacies received large quantities of 30mg oxycodone pills, even though he knew the painkiller was not going to be used for legitimate
medical reasons.
In some instances, the customers presented fraudulent prescriptions for a non-narcotic substance that had been “washed,” or “bleached,” through a chemical process that removed the original writing. The customers then rewrote the prescriptions for their drug of choice, oxycodone. Ludwikowski and Goldfield also ignored concerns raised by an employee who pointed out an obviously altered prescription, according to prosecutors.
Customers who used the fraudulent prescriptions generally paid in cash and provided gifts to Ludwikowski and Goldfield. In some instances, these customers filled fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone multiple times a week.
In addition to the prison term, a judge sentenced Ludwikowski to five years of supervised released, 1,000 hours of community service and ordered him to pay a fine of $12,000.