Five physicians pleaded guilty to drug charges connected to a purported pain management clinic with locations in Virginia and West Virginia, the Justice Department said Sept. 12.
Hitech Opioid Pharmacovigilance Expertise Clinic-associated physicians William Earley, DO; Brian Gullett, DO; Roswell Lowry, MD; Vernon Stanley, MD; and Mark Clarkson, DO, each pleaded guilty to charges related to the prescribing of thousands of oxycodone- and morphine-based pills from November 2010 to June 2015, the Justice Department said. Some of the prescriptions amounted to four to seven pills per day.
Some HOPE Clinic locations averaged 65 or more customers per day with only one practitioner working, the Justice Department said.
The five physicians are set for sentencing Dec. 22. They face maximum penalties of four to five years in prison and maximum fines of either $250,000 or $500,000.