60 medical professionals in 5 states facing felony charges for illegally prescribing pain killers — including distributing pills in exchange for sex

Sixty people spanning five different states are facing felony charges for illegally prescribing over 32 million pain pills—including doctors who prescribed them in exchange for sex, the Washington Post is reporting.  One of the doctors is charged in connection with a death caused by opioids.

The medical professionals charged, according to the Post, range from 31 doctors and seven pharmacists to eight nurse practitioners. The alleged illegal prescriptions, which total more than 350,000, were written in Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee or West Virginia.

The felony charges range from health care fraud to unlawful distribution of controlled substances. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and many of the medical professionals who have been charged are facing multiple counts.

The Washington Post quoted federal U.S. Justice Department prosecutor Brian Benczkowski as saying, “That is the equivalent of one opioid dose for every man, woman and child in the five states in the region that we’ve been targeting. If these medical professionals behave like drug dealers, you can rest assured that the Justice Department is going to treat them like drug dealers.”