There have been several recent shocking cases in the news of doctors who have let greed override their professional ethics, writing illegal prescriptions for addictive narcotic drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin and Xanax.
In the Los Angeles area, we covered the US-to-Mexico OxyContin and Vicodin Smuggling Ring. Dr. Tyron Reece has been charged with writing illegal prescriptions for over 900,000 OxyContin and Vicodin tables in a single year. Newport Beach doctor Nazar Al Bussum plead guilty to writing more than 60,000 illegal prescriptions for OxyContin, Xanax and other addictive prescription drugs and is now getting the book thrown at him. We have also covered the phenomenon of drug dealers on Craigslist becoming a huge phenomena. Now a Chicago seems to have combined a lack of integrity with a knowledge of cyberspace – but his motivation seems to have been lust rather than greed.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Dr. Joshua Baron placed ads on Craigslist offering to write prescriptions for OxyContin, Xanax and other drugs in exchange for sex. The doctor, a pediatric neurologist who specializes in the treatment of epilepsy, was arrested by federal authorities after he showed up at the home of a female police officer who answered his Craigslist ad. The sting operation took place in January and led DEA authorities to launch a broad investigation of his activities.
The federal charges filed against Baron assert that the 37-year-old doctor placed at least 68 online advertisements on the Craigslist website between 2007 and 2011 in which he offered to trade a variety of prescription drugs. One of his ads tipped off local police who routinely check the ads for illegal activities. His ads were posted under “Casual Encounters” and according to the criminal complaint typically followed this format: “Do you need Xanax or Adderall? – m4w…Let me know what you are willing to trade, and please send a pic.” The acronym m4w used in the ad stands for “man looking for woman.”
Federal agents contacted three people responded to Baron’s ads and who claimed to have exchanged sex with the doctor at his suggestion for prescriptions. Each transaction was conducted as a drug deal, with ad responders meeting Baron outside his medical office and receiving prescriptions without undergoing a medical exam or supplying a medical history.
Baron was charged in federal court with one count of attempting to distribute a controlled substance containing amphetamine. If found guilty, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and an additional $1 million fine. He voluntarily surrendered his medical license at the time of his arrest and was released on his own recognizance.