A Florida doctor is accused of prescribing medications to her granddaughter she didn’t need so her granddaughter could sell them, federal officials said.
The 77-year-old resident of Spring Hill, and her 34-year-old granddaughter, were charged with drug distribution and smuggling. Conspiracy to distribute drugs on Nov. 7, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
In July 2020, a Florida medical board began investigating the osteopath after receiving complaints about “the manner in which she prescribed controlled substances,” the attorney’s office said.
The authority prohibited the doctor from prescribing opioids, but she continued to prescribe them anyway in violation of the medical committee’s order, according to the statement.
Federal officials said the ban was lifted in March 2021.
Then, between March 2021 and February 2023, the doctor’s granddaughter began bringing other patients to her grandmother’s clinic, officials said.
The doctor prescribed opioids and other controlled substances to her granddaughter and to the people she brought “without any legitimate medical purpose,” the attorney’s office said.
The granddaughter and other people prescribed the medication and then used and distributed the drugs, according to the statement.
The doctor was ordered to forfeit $34,132 that officials say she earned from illegal drug distribution.
She faces 22 federal charges and her granddaughter faces 10 federal charges, officials said.
Both women face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count if convicted, according to the release.
Spring Hill is located about 50 miles north of Tampa.
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