Consequences of Practicing Medicine Without a License
Anyone who follows the news is familiar with the various ways that healthcare practitioners can get into trouble with the law. Most medical errors do not result in criminal charges, even if the patients harmed by them file medical malpractice lawsuits in civil court and win damages awards worth millions of dollars. In other words, only the worst medical malpractice leads to criminal penalties for physicians. Far more criminal charges against doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals arise from mishandling of controlled substances. Doctors can get into legal trouble for prescribing controlled substances to patients when jurors are certain that the doctor knew that the patient would abuse or resell the medication, rather than using it for a medically indicated purpose. Then there are the doctors and nurses who steal medications from hospitals for their own use. Most crimes that involve mishandling of medications involve controlled substances, especially opioid pain medications. It is also possible to get criminal charges for illegal sale of prescription medications not classified as controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act. Here, our Miami drug crimes defense lawyer explains the legal trouble that can arise when people do things that only physicians are legally authorized to do, even when they do not involve the drugs most highly prized on the street.
Lantana Man Accused of Dispensing Prescription Medications Under False Pretenses
The strip mall pain clinics of South Florida are a thing of the past, but you can still find shady pharmacies, even if it is not so easy to leave with a stash of opioid pills big enough to fuel an epic party. In early 2025, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the DEA received tips about Broadway Health in Lantana, a retail store that allegedly dispensed prescription drugs without going through all the proper legal channels. An undercover agent went there pretending to be a patient and left with the following medications:
- Testosterone – a male sex hormone
- Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) – a hormone produced during pregnancy
- Anastrozole – a drug that suppresses the production of estrogen
None of these drugs are listed on any of the drug schedules of the Controlled Substances Act, but none of them are available over the counter. This means that the only way to get them legally is by prescription.
The person who dispensed the medications claimed that he was doing so under the direction of a physician, but law enforcement could find no evidence to prove these statements. Therefore, they arrested him, and he is currently facing charges for practicing medicine without a license. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The defendant has previous convictions for offenses related to practicing medicine without a license, so if he is convicted, he likely faces a longer sentence than he would if he did not have previous convictions.
How Are Controlled Substances Different From Other Kinds of Drugs?
So many drugs are only available by prescription because it is unsafe to take them except under the guidance of a physician. The drugs the undercover agents bought from Broadway Health are prescription drugs that doctors often order for patients to treat hormonal disorders; anastrozole can also be a treatment for breast cancer and other estrogen-dependent types of cancers. People might buy these drugs illegally because they want to circumvent formal medical treatment, either because they think it will be less expensive or because they think they are knowledgeable enough to treat their own illnesses without going through medical professionals. This happens less often, though, than instances where people seek out drugs such as stimulants and opioids; in other words, some drugs are more popular for illegal use.
The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 identified the most commonly abused drugs. Drug abuse patterns have changed, and many drugs that did not exist in 1970 have since entered the illegal drug supply; federal and state laws have added these to the various drug schedules of the Controlled Substances Act. The law recognizes five categories of controlled substances which are subject to more legal restrictions than ordinary prescription drugs. The drugs in Schedule I do not have any legally accepted medical uses, even if their inventors originally synthesized them in hopes of getting them approved to treat certain medical conditions.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
A South Florida criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for illegal possession or sale of drugs not listed as controlled substances. Contact Ratzan & Faccidomo in Miami, Florida for a confidential consultation about your case.
Source:
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