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Prosecutors bring rare criminal charges against Ohio opioid distributor Miami-Luken
Source: Washington Post
Prosecutors bring rare criminal charges against Ohio opioid distributor
By Lenny Bernstein July 18 at 2:30 PM
Federal prosecutors in Cincinnati filed criminal charges Wednesday against an opioid distributor and two of its top former officers, accusing them of conspiring with doctors and pharmacies to pour millions of addictive pain pills into Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.
The indictment of Miami-Luken, its former president and its former compliance officer was the second time in three months that federal prosecutors have used criminal laws against a drug distributor in their efforts to stem the prescription opioid epidemic. That is a more aggressive posture than the Justice Department has used since 2007, when it began using civil and administrative actions to enforce laws against drug distributors.
“There’s a need, in my opinion, to devote sufficient charges right here and now to stop the dying,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman said about why the agency used criminal statutes. “We have to devote the resources to cut off the supply of the drugs, whether it’s synthetics or it’s prescription opioids or both.”
The single count of the grand jury indictment accused former Miami-Luken president Anthony Rattini and former compliance officer James Barclay of knowingly distributing powerful narcotic painkillers for other than medical reasons. The company itself, which went out of business late last year, was also charged.
Two West Virginia pharmacists, Devonna Miller-West and Samuel R. Ballengee, who owned and operated small town drugstores that allegedly received millions of pills, were also charged. All face as much as 20 years in prison. The Washington Post was attempting to reach their attorneys.
-snip-
By Lenny Bernstein July 18 at 2:30 PM
Federal prosecutors in Cincinnati filed criminal charges Wednesday against an opioid distributor and two of its top former officers, accusing them of conspiring with doctors and pharmacies to pour millions of addictive pain pills into Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky.
The indictment of Miami-Luken, its former president and its former compliance officer was the second time in three months that federal prosecutors have used criminal laws against a drug distributor in their efforts to stem the prescription opioid epidemic. That is a more aggressive posture than the Justice Department has used since 2007, when it began using civil and administrative actions to enforce laws against drug distributors.
“There’s a need, in my opinion, to devote sufficient charges right here and now to stop the dying,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin C. Glassman said about why the agency used criminal statutes. “We have to devote the resources to cut off the supply of the drugs, whether it’s synthetics or it’s prescription opioids or both.”
The single count of the grand jury indictment accused former Miami-Luken president Anthony Rattini and former compliance officer James Barclay of knowingly distributing powerful narcotic painkillers for other than medical reasons. The company itself, which went out of business late last year, was also charged.
Two West Virginia pharmacists, Devonna Miller-West and Samuel R. Ballengee, who owned and operated small town drugstores that allegedly received millions of pills, were also charged. All face as much as 20 years in prison. The Washington Post was attempting to reach their attorneys.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/prosecutors-bring-rare-criminal-charges-against-ohio-opioid-distributor/2019/07/18/71f28a74-a97b-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html
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Related: Pharmaceutical Distributor & Executives, Pharmacists Charged With Unlawfully Distributing Painkillers (U.S. Attorney's Office - Southern District of Ohio)