By Mani Dabiri | Published August 4, 2017 | Posted in Federal and State Criminal Defense, Government Subpoenas and Investigations, Post-Conviction Defense and Appeals | Tagged Tags: healthcare, overcriminalization, prescriptiondrugs, punishment, sentencingalternatives, smartoncrime, warondrugs |
No Correlation Between Drug War and Use
According to an independent, well-regarded think tank, there is statistically no reason to think that we can reduce drug abuse by locking more people up. The nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts spelled it out in a letter this summer to a federal commission that’s looking at ways to combat the widespread problem of opioid abuse. Its study, which drew on data Read More
Read MoreThe CURES For What Ails You
Speaking of prescription drugs, almost every state now has a prescription-drug monitoring program (or PDMP). The goal is to curb prescription-drug abuse by discouraging pill-pushing and doctor-shopping. So whether you’re a patient or provider, you should pay attention because law enforcement and licensing boards are watching. In California, for example, the program is called CURES: the Read More
Read MorePatient Privacy Gives Way for Good Cause
If you’re a doctor in California, here’s a healthy reminder that the Medical Board can subpoena your patients’ records for good cause, over their objection and yours. In a recent decision, the California Court of Appeal upheld an order that compelled a doctor to produce three of his patients’ records even though all three didn’t want Read More
Read MoreStrict Liability for Pharmacists in California
If you’re a supervising pharmacist in California, you should take note of a recent appellate decision that upheld the pharmacy board’s right to revoke your license because of a subordinate’s intentional misconduct, even if you didn’t know about it. The pharmacist in the case, who was the pharmacist-in-charge at a retail pharmacy, nearly lost his license because a technician secretly ordered and stole one million Read More
Read MoreU.S. Sentencing Commission Amends Guidelines for White-Collar Fraud Cases
Any day now, the U.S. Sentencing Commission will submit to Congress a set of proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines that it voted to approve three weeks ago. That matters because, in federal court, the guidelines drive most sentences and influence nearly all of them. If Congress doesn’t object to the amendments, they will go effective on November 1. Here’s Read More
Read MoreWhat Is A Kickback, Anyway?
When is it a bribe, when is it business, and when is it speech? We know it’s a bribe if you toss some cash in someone’s lap, but what if you just give them some good business advice? Well, that may have value, too, so it could be a kickback, but then what if you charge them for it? Okay, well, that Read More
Read MoreJohnson & Johnson to Pay $2.2 Billion to Settle Charges Regarding Children and the Elderly
Last week, healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $2.2 billion and plead guilty to a misdemeanor in order to settle a long-running civil and criminal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into its off-label marketing of certain drugs, including the antipsychotic Risperdal. Under federal law, drug makers may not market drugs for a use that has not been approved Read More
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