Oxycodone trafficking is starting to outperform the cocaine boom of South Florida. Broward County, known as the pain pill capital of the U.S. has some of the most prominent painkiller trafficking cases to date.


Another Doctor Trafficking Pain Killers

According to an article in WPTV News, 54-year-old Dr. Barry Michael Schultz, a Delray Beach doctor, is accused of prescribing an extremely excess amount of painkillers to dozens of patients and requiring them to fill their prescriptions at his own office dispensary and pay cash.

Authorities say the Schultz Medical Group/Barry Schultz M.D. was not registered with the Florida Department of Health to operate as a pain management clinic.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office was alerted when the pharmacist-owner of a Tru-Valu Drugs store called about a patient of Schultz’s attempting to fill a prescription for a 30-day supply of Oxycodone (1,590 pills), according to the article.

When authorities seized patient records in October, 2010, they found a pattern of templates that were copied from visit to visit with no change in the patient’s health status, or age, even from several years ago.

Interviews with several patients revealed that Shultz never even physically examined some patients or recommended X-rays, MRI’s, or other therapies before prescribing painkillers like Oxycodone and Methadone. There were simply routine checks of vital signs by his staff.

Shultz’s defense for overprescribing Oxycodone is that two of his patients, he explained, are among the one percent of the population with a high tolerance for Oxycodone so they require larger quantities for pain management.

Of the 12 charges Schultz is facing, six trafficking counts are punishable by up to 30 years in prison per count and six unlawful prescription counts can get a maximum of 15 years each, according to Florida statutes.

Oxycodone Trafficking Defense

If you have ever been charged with possession or trafficking Oxycodone, you are in for a long haul. Authorities are cracking down on the flow of Oxycodone trafficking and the punishments are already severe. Have a criminal defense lawyer help you build a case. You are looking at up to 30 years in prison for each count of Oxycodone trafficking, only a criminal defense lawyer can help you mitigate that sentence.