DEA agents arrested three doctors and a nurse in the New Orleans area, saying they ran clinics where patients saw doctors for as little as 11 seconds and got preprinted prescriptions for powerful narcotics without any evidence that they had medical problems.

The arrests sent shock waves through the local pain-management community, where more than 60 pain clinics have sprung up in the past few years.

Federal agents seized more than $10 million in assets, including $1.6 million in cash from the clinic director's home. DEA officials said they also plan to investigate other doctors and pharmacists who have done business with the clinics.

As agents raided the clinics, cars circled the scene repeatedly, with some speeding away at the sight of police. A pair of pharmacies owned by the operator of the pain clinics also were raided. Both the clinics and pharmacies accepted only cash for services. Prescriptions were typically written for hydrocodone (Lorcet), alprazolam (Xanax), and carisoprodol (Soma) -- ingredients for a popular drug "cocktail."

"They're street peddlers with an M.D. after their names," said Dr. John Bobear, executive director of the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners.

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