Pubdate: Tue, 23 May 2006
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2006 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Missy Stoddard
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

PAIN DOCTOR GETS 12 1/2 YEARS IN JAIL

At Least 15,000 Pills Were Illegally Prescribed

A Boca Raton pain management doctor has been sentenced to 121/2 years 
in federal prison for illegally prescribing more than 15,000 
Oxycontin pills, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley also ordered Dr. Andrew 
Weiss to forfeit $200,000 he earned writing prescriptions for the 
potent, narcotic painkiller to people who were not his patients.

Weiss, who pleaded guilty in February to four counts of illegally 
distributing a controlled substance, faced up to 80 years in prison. 
Prosecutors dropped 37 counts against Weiss as part of a negotiated plea deal.

Weiss, 45, ran Pain Management of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach 
and the St. Lucie Pain Center.

He admitted prescribing pills to the roommate and girlfriend of 
patient Brian Wojtusik, who received just more than 16 years for his 
part in the case after pleading guilty to numerous felonies. Wojtusik 
told authorities he shipped Oxycontin obtained from Weiss to a 
Vermont man named Marc Wells, who sold the pills on the street, 
according to the government.

In a letter to the court seeking leniency, Weiss insisted that he 
provided Wojtusik and his associates the Oxycontin prescriptions 
because Wojtusik, a bouncer at a strip club, threatened to harm Weiss 
or his family if he didn't.

Weiss told the judge that as a result, he began drinking to excess 
and increased his dosage of anti-depressants. He tried to put a stop 
to the situation, he wrote, but caved to Wojtusik's threats.

"Now, the family I had sought to protect has still been harmed," 
Weiss wrote to Hurley. "I put many people at risk by writing these 
prescriptions. I have ruined a career in medicine ... . Hundreds of 
patients will not receive the care that I provided them because of my 
weakness. In addition to all of that, I have destroyed my health by 
sticking my head in the sand with a bottle of alcohol."

Weiss' medical license is under emergency suspension, according to 
the Florida Department of Health.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman