Oklahoma City Doc Pays $325K to Settle Civil Penalty Claims

An Oklahoma City physician has paid more than $300,000 to settle civil penalty claims related drug abuse prevention and control laws, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma reported.

Albert T. Nguyen, M.D., paid $325,000 to settle civil penalty claims stemming from allegations that he violated the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and its regulations, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

Dr. Nguyen is the owner and sole physician at the Budget Medical Clinic in Oklahoma City.

From approximately November 2016 to May 2017, Dr. Nguyen operated two clinic locations in Oklahoma City, federal authorities alleged. When Dr. Nguyen was seeing patients at one location, he routinely left pre-signed, blank prescriptions at the other location, which non-physician practitioners used to issue prescriptions to patients for controlled substances that they did not have the authority to prescribe.

The prescriptions were not issued in the usual course of professional practice, and Dr. Nguyen’s conduct violated the requirements contained in the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and its regulations, according to the Justice Department.

Dr. Nguyen did not admit liability with the settlement and the government did not make any concessions about the legitimacy of the claims. The agreement allows the parties to avoid the delay, expense, inconvenience, and uncertainty involved in litigating the case.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Diversion Control, with assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda R. Johnson and Ronald R. Gallegos prosecuted the case.

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma

Topics Claims Oklahoma