A federal jury convicted a Houston physician and pain management clinic owner of running a "pill mill" scheme involving millions of doses of opioids and other controlled substances.
Here are six things to know.
1. Shane Faithful, owner of the Houston-based Gulfton Community Health Center, and physician Gazelle Craig, DO, were found guilty of operating an illegal pill mill out of the pain management clinic from March 2015 through July 2017.
2. Dr. Craig wrote approximately 18,252 prescriptions for more than 2.1 million doses of hydrocodone and approximately 15,649 prescriptions for more than 1.3 million doses of carisoprodol.
3. Hydrocodone is a Schedule 2 controlled substance, and carisoprodol is a Schedule 4 controlled substance. The combination of the two drugs is dangerous and has no proven medical benefit, according to trial evidence.
4. Dr. Craig illegally prescribed controlled substances for up to 60 patients a day. Mr. Faithful and Dr. Craig charged patients about $300 in cash for each prescription, often bringing in proceeds upwards of $15K each day. They divided the proceeds.
5. Mr. Faithful and Dr. Craig attempted to prevent investigations by banning bags and the use of electronic devices in the clinic. Four armed security guards patrolled Gulfton to control crowds, which included addicts and "crew leaders" who brought patients to Gulfton for the unlawful prescriptions.
6. "The consequences have been devastating. In this case, tens of thousands of pills flooded our streets because of the defendants' actions. We will never know for certain the scale of the damage done," said Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced the conviction.