Federal Authorities Indict 60 on Opioid Charges

Federal authorities announced the indictment of 31 doctors across seven states in a crackdown on opioid abuses. Also indicted were seven pharmacists, eight nurse practitioners and other “licensed medical professionals” on charges that they illegally prescribed opioids or defrauded the government, or both.

Among those charged were nurse practitioner Jeffrey Young, 43, a would-be reality TV star in Jackson, Tennessee who dubbed himself “the Rock Doc.” Federal authorities accused him of writing needless prescriptions for opioids and benzodiazepines, sometimes in exchange for sexual favors.

The authorities say Young prescribed 500,000 hydrocodone pills, 300,000 oxycodone pills, 1,500 fentanyl patches and more than 600,000 benzodiazepine pills in less than three years.