The Justice Department has announced a guilty verdict against a Slidell doctor.
"A federal jury convicted a Louisiana physician... for conspiring to illegally distribute over 1.8 million doses of Schedule II controlled substances, including oxycodone and morphine."
Prosecutors say the physician also defrauded health care benefit programs of more than $5.4 million.
"Adrian Dexter Talbot, 58, of Slidell, owned and operated Medex Clinical Consultants (Medex), located in Slidell."
The US Attorney's Office says that people looking to score drugs could pay cash for prescriptions at Medex.
Federal prosecutors say patients at the clinic were getting opioids and other controlled substances without ever seeing the doctor or getting an exam.
"Talbot hired another practitioner who, at Talbot’s direction, also pre-signed prescriptions to be distributed in the same manner at the Slidell clinic in exchange for cash deposited into the Medex account."
Sentencing is set for October 23rd.
"Talbot could get a maximum penalty of ten years in prison for conspiracy to commit health care fraud and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the other counts."
