-
Login
-
Digital Edition
-
Print Edition
- Most Commented
- Most Commented
- Most Emailed
- Most Emailed
- Popular
- Popular
« News Home
Prosecutor to appeal dismissal of pharmacist's drug indictment
TweetYOUNGSTOWN — The prosecutor’s office will appeal the dismissal by a trial judge of a 24-count indictment against a local pharmacist, an assistant prosecutor said.
Martin P. Desmond, assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, said his office will appeal Wednesday’s dismissal of the criminal charges against Gary A. Evankovich, 54, of Devonshire Drive, Boardman. The appeal will be filed in the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Evankovich was indicted in January on 24 counts of the sale of dangerous drugs in a reported long-distance Internet- prescription scheme.
Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court dismissed the indictment on the grounds that the law under which Evankovich was charged specifically states that it does not apply to state-licensed pharmacists.
However, Desmond said he believes “the pharmacist cannot avail himself of that exemption because his conduct was outside the scope of how pharmacists are supposed to conduct their business.”
Desmond said he is convinced Evankovich was indicted under the proper statute and that he knows of two other judges in Mahoning County who have presided over cases in which pharmacists were successfully prosecuted under that statute.
An administrative hearing concerning Evankovich’s pharmacy license will resume Wednesday before the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy.
In the Evankovich matter, the illegal-drug orders were alleged to have originated in the Caribbean via the Internet, and the prescriptions were written by a New York physician and sent to Evankovich via the Internet, according to Robert E. Bush Jr., chief of the criminal division of the county prosecutor’s office.
Ohio law prohibits physicians from prescribing drugs for patients they haven’t seen, Bush said. Evankovich illegally filled prescriptions in cases where he knew or should have known that the physician didn’t see the patient for whom the drugs were being prescribed, Bush said.
In the indictment, Evankovich, an owner of North Lima and Bel-Park pharmacies, was accused of illegally filling more than 10,000 prescriptions totaling more than 1 million doses.
Among the drugs Evankovich was charged with dispensing illegally in large quantities are Fioricet, a strong narcotic pain reliever and relaxant; Tramadol, a narcoticlike pain reliever; and Soma, a muscle relaxer.
Comments
Doctors are so afraid to prescribe any narcotic pain reliever, even ONE tablet per day (when normal dosing for most meds is one tablet every 4 to 6 hours). Doctors are afraid to prescribe even the lowest level narcotics, even for patients in proven pain situations (ex. acute pain, post trauma). Chronic pain patients meet doctors who, jaded and troubled by our addictive society, regard all persons in pain as potential 'drug seekers'. And when patients in chronic pain visit doctor after doctor, seeking a cure or humane relief of pain, doctors feel convinced these patients are "doctor shopping" and are indeed "drug seekers".
Our society MUST develop HUMANE treatment of chronic pain. Former Ohio Senator Thomas witnessed his mother die of cancer, in extreme pain until her death. Many drs think they must give little pain meds to prevent addiction--even when the patient is DYING! Former Ohio Senator Thomas authored Ohio's Pain Bill. It states all doctors must ask about a person's pain, but doctors are still terrified of the DEA! So even though Ohio has a "pain law", thousands of people still suffer needless daily pain.
see part 2
Part 2 -- When society, our State legislature, and the DEA allow physicians to make professional decisions about which patients need which meds and how much, then we won't have Internet-prescribing schemes putting pharmacists in the middle of the DEA's prescribing debate.
Doctors should use discretion when prescribing, with knowledge from their years of education and continuing ed. But prevention of (quote) "addiction" should NOT override patient's true needs to have their severe pain adequately treated. Patients in true pain do not become "addicted"-- the body does, however, become dependent--- totally different from being an "addict".
We need to re-do "addiction" education-- for society, patients, the DEA, and physicians too. Only if you've experienced chronic, unrelenting, severe daily pain, will you know the poor quality of life that results from untreated severe pain.
I don't agree with Internet drug prescribing. But I bet a large number of pharmacist Evankovich's prescription sales (via Internet prescribing) were for patients who met resistance when the patients asked their own doctors to treat their very real pain. There HAS to be a better way for people suffering pain to get their doctors to listen and respond with appropriate meds!
My 1 cent opinion.
As a side note, Evankovich's store has helped thousands of people who are in "true" severe pain and who legitimately received "a monthly prescription" from "a local doctor" to treat chronic pain. These patients don't doctor-shop, drug-seek, or in any way violate the rules for prescribing narcotics. Because Evankovich's store has helped thousands of people who are in "true" severe pain, I'd hate to see him prosecuted. Maybe reprimanded... maybe monitored... maybe warned to not fill prescriptions from out of state... There has to be a balanced way to handle the issue of filling scripts from Internet-based sales.
I agree that physicians are "afraid" to prescribe any narcotic pain relievers, even when there is a history of surgery and chronic pain.
Society as a whole, NEEDS to address chronic pain and stop the suffering! I do not agree with Internet prescriptions, but what other options are out there for people suffering from true chronic pain? If your own family doctor is afraid of 'addictions'...where can you turn???