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Ohio Physician Convicted for Illegally Prescribing and Dispensing Pain Pills
Convicted by a US District Court jury of illegally prescribing and dispensing millions of pain pills outside the scope of a legitimate medical practice, Dr Paul H. Volkman faces at least 20 years in prison. At the conclusion of a trial that began on March 1 and involved 70 witnesses presented by the government, Volkman was convicted of 12 counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, including four counts that the illegal distribution resulted in death. According to the Department of Justice news release, “Volkman was one of the nation’s largest physician dispensers of oxycodone in 2003 and 2005. Evidence presented during the trial showed that Volkman prescribed and dispensed millions of dosages of various drugs including diazepam, hydrocodone, oxycodone, alprazolam, and carisoprodol.”
Volkman operated out of three locations in Portsmouth, OH, and one location in Chillicothe, OH, that were shut down by DEA Diversion investigators in 2006. In addition to the pills dispensed at Volkman’s establishments, more than 5,500 prescriptions for high doses of oxycodone and other drugs were dispensed by Harold Eugene Fletcher, owner of East Main Pharmacy in Columbus, OH, between September 2005 and February 2006. Fletcher pleaded guilty in January 2011 to the illegal distribution of oxycodone and to committing financial and tax crimes, and he awaits sentencing. The investigation into Volkman’s operations was conducted by Carter M. Stewart, US attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Robert L. Corso, special agent in charge, DEA; Keith L. Bennett, special agent in charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; William T. Winsley, executive director of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy; Richard A. Whitehouse, executive director, State Medical Board of Ohio; Portsmouth Police Chief Charles Horner, and representatives of 12 other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois.
