Tennessee physician Ralph Reach, MD, was sentenced to six months in federal prison and 18 months of home detention after pleading guilty to three drug charges.
Dr. Reach is the former owner of Watauga Recovery Clinics, a chain of buprenorphine clinics with locations in Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee, according to a June 7 news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia.
He pleaded guilty in March to three counts of causing drugs to be misbranded while held for sale after shipment in interstate commerce by allowing prescription drugs Subutex, Suboxone, clonazepam and gabapentin to be dispensed without valid prescriptions.
"Opioid poisoning continues to be a leading cause of death for Virginians of all ages, despite the continued efforts of law enforcement and community groups to warn of the adverse effects of misuse," U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh said in the release. "When doctors add to this mounting problem by overprescribing these powerful drugs, they must be held accountable, and we will continue to do exactly that."