Tennessee Doctors, Nurses Snared in Crackdown
Nashville Tennessean USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE Indictments were revealed Wednesday against 32 Tennessee doctors, nurses and other medical professionals charged with crimes related opioids and over-prescribing, placing the Volunteer State at the epicenter of a crackdown designed to combat the opioid crisis throughout Appalachia. Charges were filed against numerous suspects who allegedly prescribed addictive medications without justification, including Darrel Rinehart, a fo
Doctor Tied to $65M Fraud Keeps License
Nashville Tennessean USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE The Tennessee government will allow a small-town doctor who wrote bogus prescriptions as part of a $65 million fraud conspiracy keep her medical license. Dr. Susy Vergot has been ordered to attend medical ethics classes and her license will be put on professional probation for five years, but she can continue to practice medicine and write prescriptions, according to state records revealed on Monday. The records say that Verg
Chris Tomlin is a ‘Funcle,’ a Foster Uncle
Nashville Tennessean USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE Christian music star Chris Tomlin got involved in promoting foster care at his concerts because it’s personal. Turns out Tomlin is a “funcle,” a foster uncle. Two of Tomlin’s brothers and their wives have adopted children after serving as foster parents for those kids, Tomlin said. “It’s a beautiful thing to watch,” he said. “And it’s a beautiful thing to share with my own children, two girls, 7 and 4, helping them see why th
The Angry, Abused Teen Who Finally Got Adopted
Police officers picked up the angry teenage girl after she’d run away — again — from her eighth foster home in two years. The officers brought the girl back to her latest placement, a home in a quiet neighborhood in rural Shelbyville, Tennessee. And 15-year-old Annemarie Rainwater snapped. She cursed, shouted and railed at her foster mom. You’re not my blood! You’re an awful mom! You’ll never adopt me! “She was skilled at being able to look at someone and … work out what she
32 in Medical Field Named in Opioid Crackdown
Nashville Tennessean USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE Indictments were revealed Wednesday against 32 Tennessee doctors, nurses and other medical professionals charged with crimes related opioids and over-prescribing, placing the Volunteer State at the epicenter of a crackdown designed to combat the opioid crisis throughout Appalachia. Charges were filed against numerous suspects who allegedly prescribed addictive medications without justification, including Darrel Rinehart, a fo
Eight East Tennessee Medical Professionals Charged in Multi-State Prescription Opioid Takedown
Five doctors, a nurse practitioner, a physician assistant and an office manager were charged in four cases. Sixty people across 11 federal districts were charged for their alleged participation in the illegal prescribing and distributing of opioids and other dangerous narcotics and for health care fraud schemes, according to the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid (ARPO) Strike Force. Officials said these included 31 doctors, seven pharmacists, eight nurse practitioners,
Ohio, Kentucky Doctors among 60 Charged in Pain Pill Bust Acted 'Like Drug Dealers'
Federal prosecutors charged 60 physicians and pharmacists Wednesday with illegally handing out opioid prescriptions in what they say is the biggest crackdown of its kind in U.S. history. Some of the doctors are accused of trading drugs for sex, giving prescriptions to Facebook friends without proper medical exams and unnecessarily pulling teeth to justify writing pain pill prescription. At least five of the patients, including a pregnant woman from Tennessee, died. The list o
Maryville Doctor Charged in Federal Opioid Investigation
A Maryville doctor with a specialty in treating opioid addiction has been indicted by a federal grand jury for helping to illegally distribute controlled substances, according to federal documents released Wednesday. Charles Brooks Jr., 61, West Hunt Road, Maryville, was indicted April 2 on one count of conspiracy to distribute Schedule III, IV and V drugs as well as one count of health care fraud for aiding and abetting a false statement related to health care matters. This
Lee Proposes $25M to Combat Hepatitis C
Nashville Tennessean USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE Gov. Bill Lee’s latest budget proposal recommends moving nearly $25 million previously allocated to a controversial education savings account program to an effort to combat hepatitis C in Tennessee prisons. The administration said the proposal — announced Monday by Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Stuart McWhorter — should not be read as a sign of potential trouble for the education proposal. Instead, McW
32 Tennessee Doctors, Nurses and Medical Professionals Indicted in Massive Opioid Crackdown
Indictments were revealed Wednesday against 32 Tennessee doctors, nurses and other medical professionals charged with crimes related opioids and over-prescribing, placing the Volunteer State at the epicenter of a crackdown designed to combat the opioid crisis throughout Appalachia. OPIOID CRACKDOWN: What Tennessee doctors were charged? We've got a list. Charges were filed against numerous suspects who allegedly prescribed addictive medications without justification, including