From a report in the Indianapolis star.
An Indianapolis psychiatrist was arrested Friday at his Noblesville home after a federal grand jury indicted him on eight counts of dispensing medicine without a prescription.
Dr. Adolfo P. Hernandez, 67, is charged with eight counts of unlawfully dispensing the painkiller Percocet, according to Timothy M. Morrison, acting U.S. attorney for the Indianapolis-based district. Hernandez allegedly dispensed the drug outside the scope of his medical practice and not for legitimate medical purposes, Morrison said. Federal law identifies the drug, known generically as oxycodone, as one with a high potential for abuse.
The indictment issued Wednesday alleges Hernandez, a licensed physician in Indiana, unlawfully dispensed the drugs on at least eight occasions from Dec. 20 through March 13.
Mary Bippus, assistant to the U.S. attorney, said in a news release that the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Drug Task Force arrested Hernandez after a 13-month investigation.
Undercover police called Hernandez on his home or cell phones to secure appointments at his office in the 700 block of East 52nd Street, the news release said. The officers paid $125 in exchange for prescriptions for oxycodone and Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Oxycodone is a controlled substance that may lead to limited physical or psychological dependence.
Hernandez conducted no medical examinations and created no medical records during the visits, and no medical staff or employees were observed, the release said. Records obtained through the investigation indicate the doctor has written more than 8,400 prescriptions in the past year.
Undercover officers observed that Hernandez’s office had the basics of a medical office and a security camera and monitor, but no telephone or fax machine, the release said.
The indictment asks that property acquired as a result of the unlawful distribution of the drugs be forfeited to the government. Hernandez is believed to own land and a home that was built in the past two years, valued at about $500,000, the release said.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry D. Glickman, who is prosecuting the case, Hernandez faces up to 20 years in prison on each count and a maximum possible fine of $8 million if found guilty. Hernandez was ordered to stay in the Marion County Jail until a hearing Thursday in Indianapolis federal court
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