A Texas physician has been indicted on charges of operating a cash-only clinic in Houston to sell prescriptions for controlled substances, the Justice Department said in an April 2 news release.
James Robles, MD, of Weslaco, Texas, allegedly conspired to illegally prescribe oxycodone, hydrocodone and carisoprodol to “crew leaders” who recruited others to pose as patients, filled the prescriptions at complicit pharmacies and resold the drugs on the black market. Over just over four years, Dr. Robles allegedly prescribed approximately 2.9 million pills of hydrocodone, 1.3 million pills of oxycodone and 1.1 million pills of carisoprodol, with more than $2 million in cash deposited into accounts under his control.
Dr. Robles is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distributing controlled substances and maintaining a drug-involved premises. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.
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