Port Clinton man sentenced for illegal dispensing narcotics
TOLEDO ― Gregory J. Gerber, M.D., of Port Clinton, was sentenced to prison by U.S. District Judge James R. Knepp II after earlier pleading guilty to illegally dispensing narcotics to patients, according to a press release.
Gerber, 58, was sentenced to 42 months imprisonment to be followed by one year of home confinement for the first of three years of supervised release. Gerber was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $861,892 and a $100 special assessment.
From January 2010 to August 2018, Gerber, with a practice in Sandusky, repeatedly prescribed controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose, including powerful painkillers such as fentanyl, oxycodone, oxymorphone and other drugs, according to testimony and court records.
Gerber issued prescriptions without adequate examinations of patients
Gerber distributed narcotics that were not medically necessary by writing controlled substance prescriptions without first performing adequate patient physical examinations. He also used faulty diagnoses to prescribe excessive doses of controlled substances for long periods of time without evidence that the controlled substances were helping the patients, all while ignoring signs of addiction and drug abuse among those patients.
Gerber, who operated Gregory J. Gerber, M.D. LLC on Hayes Avenue in Sandusky, also profited significantly from prescribing Subsys, a particular branded formulation of fentanyl manufactured by Insys Therapeutics Inc. Between 2013 and 2016, Gerber received $175,000 from Insys for promoting the drug through Insys’ speaker’s bureau program. During that same time, Gerber wrote 835 prescriptions for Subsys.
Gerber violated federal law, doctor's oath
“When he became a physician, Dr. Gerber vowed to care for his patients — to heal, not harm,” said U.S. Attorney Becky Lutzko. “But Dr. Gerber violated both federal law and his oath when he illegally distributed addictive painkillers to his patients. The Northern District of Ohio, like many districts throughout the country, continues to combat a staggering opioid crisis. My office and our law enforcement partners are dedicated to investigating and prosecuting physicians who abuse their positions of trust by unlawfully prescribing medically unnecessary opioidprescriptions and endanger their patients’ lives.”
“Abusing one’s position as a trusted healthcare provider by deliberately harming others for personal gain is disgraceful,” said FBI Cleveland Special Agent in Charge Greg Nelsen. “Gregory Gerber exhibited a blatant disregard for his patients’ wellbeing and instead, purposefully sought ways to capitalize on — and at times, contribute to — a worsening condition."
“Physicians are expected to be trusted individuals within the communities they serve. The defendant’s actions placed patients at risk of harm and further burdened the federal health care system through his illegal conduct,” said Mario M. Pinto of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Chicago Region. “HHS-OIG will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who endangerbeneficiaries of our federal health care programs are brought to justice.”
“This disgraced doctor violated the most important oath — to do no harm,” said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. “No punishment can reverse the damage of the opioid crisis, but we are fortunate to have investigators and partner agencies that root out these criminal schemes.”
This case was investigated by the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, Ohio Attorney General’s Healthcare Fraud Section and Ohio Board of Pharmacy. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Megan R. Miller.
This article originally appeared on Port Clinton News Herald: Sandusky OH doctor sentenced to 42 years, fined in narcotic violations
