Sunil Chand, MD, pleaded guilty to dispensing diluted methadone to patients to conceal a shortage of the drug at his family medicine practice in Leadington, Mo.
Dr. Chand received a shipment of methadone to his practice, Best Medical, on April 6, 2021, according to a Feb. 3 news release from the Justice Department. Upon realizing a quantity of the drug was missing, he over-reported the amount of product lost to the Drug Enforcement Agency, then diluted the existing methadone with saline and water to hide the shortage.
Dr. Chand surrendered his DEA registration and will no longer be authorized to prescribe certain controlled substances and is scheduled to be sentenced May 30, the Justice Department said.