News (Media Awareness Project) - US FL: Pain Doctor Gets 121/2 Years In Jail |
| Title: | US FL: Pain Doctor Gets 121/2 Years In Jail |
| Published On: | 2006-05-23 |
| Source: | Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-14 04:28:29 |
PAIN DOCTOR GETS 12 1/2 YEARS IN JAIL
At Least 15,000 Pills Were Illegally Prescribed
A Boca Raton pain management doctor has been sentenced to 121/2 years
in federal prison for illegally prescribing more than 15,000
Oxycontin pills, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley also ordered Dr. Andrew
Weiss to forfeit $200,000 he earned writing prescriptions for the
potent, narcotic painkiller to people who were not his patients.
Weiss, who pleaded guilty in February to four counts of illegally
distributing a controlled substance, faced up to 80 years in prison.
Prosecutors dropped 37 counts against Weiss as part of a negotiated plea deal.
Weiss, 45, ran Pain Management of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach
and the St. Lucie Pain Center.
He admitted prescribing pills to the roommate and girlfriend of
patient Brian Wojtusik, who received just more than 16 years for his
part in the case after pleading guilty to numerous felonies. Wojtusik
told authorities he shipped Oxycontin obtained from Weiss to a
Vermont man named Marc Wells, who sold the pills on the street,
according to the government.
In a letter to the court seeking leniency, Weiss insisted that he
provided Wojtusik and his associates the Oxycontin prescriptions
because Wojtusik, a bouncer at a strip club, threatened to harm Weiss
or his family if he didn't.
Weiss told the judge that as a result, he began drinking to excess
and increased his dosage of anti-depressants. He tried to put a stop
to the situation, he wrote, but caved to Wojtusik's threats.
"Now, the family I had sought to protect has still been harmed,"
Weiss wrote to Hurley. "I put many people at risk by writing these
prescriptions. I have ruined a career in medicine ... . Hundreds of
patients will not receive the care that I provided them because of my
weakness. In addition to all of that, I have destroyed my health by
sticking my head in the sand with a bottle of alcohol."
Weiss' medical license is under emergency suspension, according to
the Florida Department of Health.
At Least 15,000 Pills Were Illegally Prescribed
A Boca Raton pain management doctor has been sentenced to 121/2 years
in federal prison for illegally prescribing more than 15,000
Oxycontin pills, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley also ordered Dr. Andrew
Weiss to forfeit $200,000 he earned writing prescriptions for the
potent, narcotic painkiller to people who were not his patients.
Weiss, who pleaded guilty in February to four counts of illegally
distributing a controlled substance, faced up to 80 years in prison.
Prosecutors dropped 37 counts against Weiss as part of a negotiated plea deal.
Weiss, 45, ran Pain Management of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach
and the St. Lucie Pain Center.
He admitted prescribing pills to the roommate and girlfriend of
patient Brian Wojtusik, who received just more than 16 years for his
part in the case after pleading guilty to numerous felonies. Wojtusik
told authorities he shipped Oxycontin obtained from Weiss to a
Vermont man named Marc Wells, who sold the pills on the street,
according to the government.
In a letter to the court seeking leniency, Weiss insisted that he
provided Wojtusik and his associates the Oxycontin prescriptions
because Wojtusik, a bouncer at a strip club, threatened to harm Weiss
or his family if he didn't.
Weiss told the judge that as a result, he began drinking to excess
and increased his dosage of anti-depressants. He tried to put a stop
to the situation, he wrote, but caved to Wojtusik's threats.
"Now, the family I had sought to protect has still been harmed,"
Weiss wrote to Hurley. "I put many people at risk by writing these
prescriptions. I have ruined a career in medicine ... . Hundreds of
patients will not receive the care that I provided them because of my
weakness. In addition to all of that, I have destroyed my health by
sticking my head in the sand with a bottle of alcohol."
Weiss' medical license is under emergency suspension, according to
the Florida Department of Health.
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