As seen ion the Dallas Morning News
A 53-year-old doctor being investigated by police on allegations of running a makeshift pharmacy out of his northeast Dallas home was arrested on charges that he was growing marijuana in his back yard.
Dallas police removed about 100 tablets of nearly two dozen drugs from the home of Paul Halebian. Texas Medical Board records list his home in the 4400 block of Abrams Road near Mockingbird Lane as his primary practice site.
When police, acting on a tip that Dr. Halebian was trafficking in illegal prescriptions, arrived at his home Nov. 7, they saw marijuana plants in his back yard "tall enough to be seen from the alleyway," the police report states.
Dr. Halebian was arrested on charges of felony possession of marijuana between 5 and 50 pounds and was released after posting $1,500 bond the next day, county records show.
When confronted by a television news crew Tuesday afternoon, he denied that he was operating an illegal pharmacy.
"That is a lie," Dr. Halebian said. "That is not true."
Police said the house, where the doctor lives with his wife, was cluttered with evidence, including prescription pads in the doctor's name, as well as prescription bottles labeled with various people's names. They also found copies of prescriptions he apparently had already filled.
Police found whipped cream canisters and evidence that he had been inhaling the vapors to get high. While police were talking to the doctor, he removed two such whipped cream canisters from his pockets.
"When confronted about these, suspect wasn't sure how they ended up in there," the police report said.
Among the drugs seized were Cialis, Ritalin, Ambien and various antibiotics and other common medications for a variety of ailments.
"You can't operate a retail pharmacy out of your home," said Jane McFarland, chief of staff for the Texas Medical Board, which regulates Texas physicians.
A doctor practicing out of his or her home is rare but not unheard of, she said.
Ms. McFarland said that she could not comment on any ongoing investigations of the doctor but that his record included no disciplinary actions.
"When a physician gets into the criminal justice system, it would be something that the board would open a high-priority investigation on," she said.
Cleo Halebian, 80, the doctor's mother, lives a few blocks from her son's home. She said that she didn't know anything about illegal drugs at the home and that her son "goes to work every morning," although she couldn't say where.
"My children are pretty much grown, so I let them do what they're going to do," she said.
Dr. Halebian interned at what is now Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York after graduating from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, records show.
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