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BOCA RATON, FLA---A former medical doctor will be spending the next 12 ½ years in prison for illegally issuing prescriptions for the powerful pain killer Oxycontin.
Andrew Weiss has been sentenced to serve a prison term of 150 months on each of three counts, to be served concurrently, three years of supervised release and a $200,000 agreed forfeiture.
Weiss previously practiced medicine in West Palm Beach under the trade name Pain Management of the Palm Beaches, located at 5 Harvard Circle, Suite 104, West Palm Beach, Florida. Weiss had pled guilty to four counts of illegally prescribing Oxycontin outside the scope of legitimate medical practice. As part of the plea agreement, Weiss also forfeited $200,000, which he admitted earning by illegally issuing prescriptions for Oxycontin to persons who were not really his patients. The State of Florida suspended Weiss's medical license after Weiss' guilty plea. The State's suspension action of Feb. 14 can be found at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/enforcement/discipline_reports/ESO_03-10-06.pdf.
Oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled substance that is addictive, and one of the most powerful pain control medicines that can be taken orally. Weiss admitted illegally prescribing more than 15,000 tablets of Oxycodone in its most powerful form, 80 milligram tablets.
"A doctor who illegally prescribes narcotics from the confines of his office is no different than a petty drug dealer selling from any street corner in America," said Mark R. Trouville, special agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Miami Field Division. "DEA will continue to aggressively pursue those who deal in death and destruction in our communities." 5-22-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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