AG Sessions calls for state medical board ‘to be more aggressive’ in opioid crisis
Sessions says medical boards failed to act quickly
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S Attorney General Jeff Sessions is calling on state medical boards across the country “to be more aggressive” when investigating and disciplining physicians engaged in overprescribing painkillers that contributed to an opioid crisis that has ravaged Ohio and the nation.
This comes after an exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation, “Prescription for Failure.”
In a rare, one-on-one interview in Sessions’ private conference room at the U.S. Justice Department in Washington, D.C., Sessions sat down with 5 On Your Side Chief Investigator Ron Regan to discuss the impact of the opioid crisis that led to the deaths of 72,000 Americans last year.
As part of our investigation, we reviewed three dozen of the highest profile cases involving pill mills and doctors across Ohio in recent years. We found 1 in 3 doctors had serious disciplinary histories, including felony drug convictions.
Even so, they were able to keep their medical licenses and later went on to be prosecuted for running pills mills across Ohio.
“It went on too long,” Sessions said. “For physicians to prescribe this extraordinarily high number of pills and nobody know about it is hard to believe.
“These medical boards and professional groups need to be more aggressive — I think in many cases they failed to pick up on information that should have been available,” he said.
In response to the opioid crisis, the Justice Department has launched an aggressive campaign to halt the spread of deadly opioids that includes:
- New strike force to target drug trafficking and violent crime in Cleveland
- Providing additional federal prosecutors in Ohio and seven other states
- Awarding $320 million to combat the opioid crisis
- Joined in a multi-district class action lawsuit against opioid manufacturers and distributors
The Justice Department’s action follows a directive from President Donald Trump who has declared the opioid crisis a “national health emergency.”
On Oct. 24, 2018, News 5 was invited to the White House where President Trump signed sweeping legislation providing $8 billion in funding to curb the opioid crisis.
You can watch the interview with Chief Investigative Reporter Ron Regan and Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the player above.
You need to watch the video on this piece, Session claims that DOJ has “convicted” some 250 physicians and then corrects himself that they are “charged’ some 250 physicians. Does this suggest that those attorneys in the DOJ will “bend the truth” so bad that they can almost be assured of a conviction and/or they will get a plead agreement because they will charge the physician with a ” boat load” of fabricated charges… just to get the physician to agree to a plea of a few charges.
It would seem like the DOJ is using the number of doses that the prescriber writes as the primary criteria as to determine that the prescriber is writing high number of doses and thus medical necessity could not be met. Does not look into how many pts are being cared for, the average number of doses/day or even the average number of mgs/day
What the DOJ and other bureaucrats are doing is tantamount to expecting a cardio vascular surgeon to do open heart surgery with a ‘electric knife” … much like the one a person would use to carve a turkey or ham.
Filed under: General Problems
Andy Smith,one thing you said is deadly fearful and accurate-“Vengeance is MINE,says the Lord,I WILL REPAY”You can believe that!They just wont understand.Addiction is from uncontrolled lust for an intense high,dependency can and only regulates functional life by easing the non-stop tension chronic pain creates.The body CANNOT heal itself when tied up in knots.I never heard of anyone being told to ‘endure’an abcessed tooth,yet that is the answer if your vertebrae are dessicating.Unbelievable!Now that Joe Blow and his flunky Nancy Blowski have trashed our citizens and enabled terrorists w/mind-boggling military hardware,who’s to say what will become of the poppy crops that we buy from them to process pain meds?God created those marvelous flowers[not fentanyl]So many people with injuries,and at the top of that list,it has to be burn victims.That kind of suffering is off the scale!!!!!I have witnessed it….I dont know when the madness ends,but it has to start w/emergency impeachment of Biden/Harris before another 9-11 happens.Dont you believe they arent working on that,either!!Pray for America,make us great again.Amen
He’s an idiot!! He makes shit up as he goes along. He has no creditable knowledge of opioids. This is clearly genocide of pain patients and no one cares!!
“Does this suggest that those attorneys in the DOJ will “bend the truth” so bad that they can almost be assured of a conviction…”
Ya think?
Absolutely,,its called trumped up charges,,and again,,,against the law…Think how many innocent Doc’s,pharmacist,nurses etc,,are in prison and their innocent?!!When they charged Dr.Tennant for trafficking a controlled substance,,or Dr,Ibsen,,,I KNEW,, they were trumping up charges to convict a innocent man,,Hell look what they’ve done to us,,,we are all now addicts,,,or long term abusers for taking our medicine as prescribed,,Again,,,making the innocent guilty,,thru perversion of authority from their position in government,,,again tyranny,,maryw
When the people fear their government its TYRANNY,, when the government fears its public,,its a democracy,,,maryw
Sessions is a pure enemy of the elerderly,middleaged ,acute,chrionic disabled,intrackable pain patients! With horrible short and long term inhuman painful medical conditions and the americians people period!! He is a mirriod image of Hitler and the leader of his s.s. demons along with the CDC and goveermeant entities out to extenguish the disable chrionic pain patients with incureable horriffic painful medical conditions from existence! Pure hate,persucation and tourture to patients who are in inhuman tourture 24/7 365 nights and days a year!! What is this mindless sadistic agression and where does it come from? Purely from the pits of eturnel fire!! Be for sure God says vengence is his!! In Christ we trust amen.
I always suspected he came from the zip code of brimstone. I dearly hope he suffers agonizing & untreated pain for eternity.