How many Conrad Murry’s are there, how many are here in Las Vegas? The Pill Mill industry providing drugs on demand to consumers is a thriving business.

Las Vegas Police are becoming more active and court dockets are being filled with cases such as Dr James Tinnell. Dr Tinnell (age 74) using the front of a Pain Clinic was convicted following a guilty plea of supplying prescription narcotics without medical cause. In essence Dr. Tinnel was charging consumers a Doctors fee or clinic fee and receiving a narcotic prescription of their choice. Most often the drug of choice is the highly addictive narcotic Oxycodon.

How prevalent is this practice of providing consumers with Prescription narcotics on demand? The efficiency of this practice and the numbers are so high that Prosecutors around the country are making these cases a top priority.

 In Florida (see story) the State has created an entire State-wide program “Pill Nation I and Pill Nation II” which has generated 69 arrests since February of this year. Pill Mills as they are often referred to by law enforcement consist of Doctors, Nurses and Medical Assistants using the front of a “Pain Clinic” to distribute narcotics to consumers and pretty much on demand. Seventy doctors and six pharmacies there have lost their ability to dispense controlled substances so far this year in Florida. In addition, more than $18.9 million in cash and other assets have been seized.

Here in Nevada Pill Mills are active but under huge scrutiny by the Attorney General. (Full Article in the Las Vegas Sun)  Nevada’s U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden condemned illegal prescription drug distribution conspiracies, vowing to continue targeting “pill mills and pharmacist co-conspirators.” Officials have filed federal charges against 70 people for illegally distributing addictive prescription painkillers since January 2010, Bogden said.

Nevada as a State was on the forefront of passing legislation 15 years ago allowing Law Enforcement to track Doctors prescriptions and patients receiving narcotics via Pharmacy records.  Now there is an effort by ethical pharmacy’s and federal law enforcement to create a national tracking system of narcotic drug prescriptions to address the Doctors and Clinics that are coordinating efforts across State lines and outside  individual State jurisdictions. The National Law enforcement effort would address cases similar to the case against Las Vegas Dr. Wetselaar who was arrested last month in Las Vegas while his counterparts were arrested in Michigan.

So why are Pill Mills so popular and why is the number growing? The answer is as obvious as it was easy to create. Money for everyone! The Pharmaceutical companies continue to profit even during a bad economy, selling more of their “higher cost” medications. The pharmacies sell more prescription meds and the Pain Clinics/ Doctors have a steady stream of return addicts. Most all the “patients” are highly addicted to Oxycodon or their narcotic of choice. The price of a visit to the pain clinic is usually nominal ranging between 80.00 and 140.00 dollars. If a insurance company picks up 80% the tab then the cost conscious consumer pays between 16.00 and 30.00 for the visit. 

What makes this abuse and crime so difficult to prosecute? Physician’s unique status and authority in society and the Doctor / Patient privilege make it difficult for Law Enforcement to get a clear case quickly. Added to the complexity are the patients who are often Doctor Shopping or Pharmacy pricing. In order to begin investigation law enforcement must utilize a series of metrics including mathematics, technology, drug usage standards and statistics to build a case.

While the case of Dr. Conrad Murry brought worldwide attention on the issue of Doctor Standards and Practices with regards to prescription drug abuse and medical ethics there is no doubt many more criminal cases involving the same issues will be coming forward here in Nevada.

Rick Singer and Dave Robbins, VegasNewsReview.com