Federal law enforcement agents and the Department of Justice have brought another “pill mill” case against an Atlanta area physician, and he has hired us to help him fight these charges.
Dr. Oscar J. Stokes is a well-trained and respected physician who has been practicing pain medicine for over ten years. Dr. Stokes is board-certified from the American Board of Anesthesiology in both anesthesiology and pain management. Dr. Stokes previously served on the faculty of the University of California at Irvine Medical School. He is one of the most qualified pain specialists in the state.
We recently helped another physician charged with operating a “pill mill” in Atlanta. Although we were prepared to win the case at trial, our client opted to avoid the time, stress and expense of a lengthy trial by agreeing to the government’s last-minute offer of a misdemeanor disposition with no jail time. He was able to maintain his medical license. The government offered us that disposition because we worked hard to prepare the case for trial. Among other things, we were able to retain two independent medical experts who were prepared to testify that this doctor prescribed pain medication within the ordinary course of a legitimate medical practice.
We look forward to a similar successful outcome in Dr. Stokes’ case, or winning the case at trial. It is unfortunate that the federal government has decided to go after legitimate pain physicians simply because the physician ran a successful and busy medical clinic. While it is certainly true that some of the patients, including undercover law enforcement officers, may have lied to the doctor to obtain medication that they did not need, our client was not running his clinic just to sell pain medication. He also utilized a number of other treatments to try to help his patients deal with their chronic pain.
“Pill mill” cases can be difficult to defend because there is usually a large amount of evidence to review and organize, including patient charts, undercover videos, prescription records, financial information, and witness statements. These cases also require the expertise of medical professionals to help us establish that our client was engaged in the legitimate practice of medicine and not just “a drug dealer with a medical license” as the government often claims.
Fortunately, we have been down this road before and are prepared to successfully defend Dr. Stokes against these charges.
