Doctor convicted on charges of illegally prescribing opioids
Shelton faces minimum of 20 years prison
A former St. Clair Shores physician faces two decades in prison after he was convicted Friday of 21 charges for illegal prescribing drugs and one charge for over-prescribing drugs to a person who died from an overdose.
Bernard Shelton, 66, was found guilty by a jury in U.S. District Court in Detroit following a trial that began Feb. 28 in front of Judge Denis Page Hood, U.S. attorneys said in a news release.
Shelton will be sentenced in July to a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life.
“Doctors who dangerously prescribe opiates for their own profit endanger the community just like other drug dealers,” said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison in the release. “When a doctor causes an overdose death with an illegitimate prescription, we will not hesitate to hold the doctor accountable. My office is committed to keeping highly addictive opioids off the street, and we will aggressively investigate and prosecute medical professionals or anyone else who illegally distribute controlled substances.”
U.S. attorneys said trial evidence showed Shelton prescribed over 5.5 million doses of controlled substances between April 2013 and December 2016 including over 2.7 million doses of Schedule II controlled substances such as oxycodone and hydrocodone, typically prescribing the types and strengths of drugs most valuable on the street market.
When an undercover patient made an initial visit to Shelton complaining of back stiffness, the doctor did not examine the patient’s back but asked “What can I give you today” before prescribing the requested narcotics, according to federal authorities.
Shelton began prescribing opioid pain relievers in 2010 to a 54-year-old patient whose pain was previously treated by prescription strength Motrin. Shelton prescribed increasingly stronger controlled substances over the next six years, and the patient became addicted to the drugs, officials said.
Shelton unlawfully prescribed an increased dosage of oxycodone in January 2016 to the patient.
Two days later, the same day he received the prescription, the patient suffered an overdose but received Narcan and survived. A second oxycodone overdose four days later, on Jan. 24, 2016, was fatal, officials said.
The jury found Shelton issued 21 prescriptions to seven patients outside the usual course of professional practice for no legitimate medical purpose so he could charge for office visits and tests, officials said.
Shelton received over $1.4 million from Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan during the period.
Due to licensure actions, Shelton has been unable to prescribe controlled substances since January 2017.
The case was investigated by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the St. Clair Shores Police Department and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Shelton was prosecuted at trial by Assistant United States Attorneys Wayne F. Pratt and Lisandra FernandezSilber.