Stay Informed

Sign up for news & alerts

Already signed up?
Login here

take action
For every $1 states spend dollar sign on substance misuse and addiction, 94 cents go to shovel up the consequences instead of for treatment and prevention. TELL YOUR LEGISLATORS

What Can I Do?



Continuing Education
Free online courses for addiction counselors LEARN ONLINE

Get Help
Need alcohol or drug help for yourself or someone else? GET HELP

 

Local Iowa Pharmacy an Internet Drug Hub
April 11, 2006

Share Share Email
Email
Print
Print
SubscribeSubscribe
News Summary

A 71-year-old doctor from Shreveport, La., and a small pharmacy in Dubuque, Iowa were part of an illicit Internet prescription-drug ring, the  Des Moines Register reported April 9.

Edward Schwab, a Shreveport osteopath, was one of seven doctors convicted of approving thousands of prescriptions for online drug sales to patients who never saw a doctor in person. Schwab alone approved 19,000 prescriptions; he faces up to 15 years in prison on conspiracy and money-laundering charges.

The drug ring was exposed when federal officials noticed that a small Dubuque pharmacy has started to send large quantities of controlled prescription drugs out to customers nationally; investigators soon learned that the orders were coming from a website called BuyMeds.com. The operators of the site paid doctors to approve prescriptions for customers who filled out electronic questionnaires; Schwab received $8 for every prescription he wrote.

The scheme began to unravel in 2003, when regulators noticed that the Dubuque pharmacy suddenly was mailing out huge quantities of addictive drugs to addresses throughout the country.

This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, case of this kind that we've seen," said Dale Austin of the Federation of State Medical Boards.

But many other sites still sell prescription drugs, and prosecutors can only hope to shut down all the suppliers; there are far too many buyers to go after.

 

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

SUBMIT A COMMENT:

Note: Comments are now held for moderator approval. More info

Name:

Comment:
(limit 250
words)

Enter this word
(help):
Change

GUIDELINES: 
Please keep comments on-topic, courteous, clean, non-commercial, and within the word limit.
Read the complete guidelines