A Sandusky, Ohio-based physician has been ordered to pay $4.7 million after he "willfully prescribed" opioids and other controlled substances to patients.
In March, Gregory Gerber, MD, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and one year of house arrest for illegally dispensing narcotics, according to an Aug. 2 Department of Justice release.
The DOJ alleged that between January 2010 and August 2018, Dr. Gerber repeatedly prescribed drugs to patients without legitimate medical reasons, including fentanyl, oxycodone and oxymorphone.
The complaint also alleged that one patient died from an overdose of fentanyl patches prescribed by Dr. Gerber. Moreover, he received kickbacks totaling $175,000 from drug manufacturer Insys Therapeutics to unlawfully prescribe Subsys, a powerful opioid containing fentanyl.
In addition to Dr. Gerber being permanently prohibited from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances, he will also be permanently barred from managing, owning or controlling any practice that dispenses controlled substances.