New Port Richey, Fla.-based pain management practice Paragon Community Healthcare was ordered to permanently close as part of a settlement over alleged Controlled Substances Act violations, the Justice Department said July 27.
The clinic's owners and one of its former physicians will collectively pay $600,000 as part of the settlement, the department said.
Tobias Bacaner, MD, allegedly wrote prescriptions for opioids without a legitimate purpose while employed at Paragon, the department said. The clinic's owners, Theodore Ferguson II and Timothy Ferguson, allegedly profited from the illegal practice and ignored obvious signs of drug abuse and diversion.
The practice allegedly filled Dr. Bacaner's prescriptions free of scrutiny at the jointly-owned Cobalt Pharmacy, the department said. The pharmacy will be permanently dissolved as part of the agreement.
Dr. Bacaner will pay $500,000 in civil penalties, the department said. He is barred from prescribing, administering, dispensing or distributing controlled substances. The Fergusons and Paragon were ordered to pay a combined $100,000.