A Martinsville, Va.-based physician, who was found guilty of more than 450 counts of multiple drug charges in December, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, the Justice Department said in a Sept. 3 news release.
What happened?
- Joel Smithers, MD, opened a practice in August 2015 and prescribed controlled substances to every patient in his practice, which resulted in more than 500,000 Schedule II substances being distributed.
- Prior to March 7, 2017, Dr. Smithers took in more than $700,000 in cash and credit card payments for the prescriptions.
- The jury convicted Dr. Smithers on one count of maintaining a place for the purpose of illegally distributing controlled substances and 466 counts of illegally prescribing Schedule II controlled substances.
- Dr. Smithers was initially convicted of the charges in 2019, but the case was thrown out in February 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law impacting the case, leading to a new trial being ordered.
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