A consistent headline in the news is how
pain clinics are a growing problem.
South Florida is considered to be the hotspot for
pain clinics and by proxy,
prescription drug trafficking. Doctors at
pain clinics have an underhanded reputation for handing out prescriptions like they’re candy for highly addictive drugs like
Oxycodone. As law enforcement continues to crack down on
drug traffickers disguised as
pain clinics,
drug traffickers continue to find loopholes around the law.
Pain Clinic Central in South Florida
WPTV News reports that Florida’s drug czar is warning South Florida law enforcement about potential loopholes that
pill mills have found. The number of
pain clinics trying to establish themselves as pharmacies has surged recently causing law enforcement to start sweating.
While pain clinics do rake in a significant amount of revenue, they are a serious problem in this area.
Prescription drugs like
Oxycodone and Xanax are high on the list of popular drugs in the
drug trafficking scene. Dr. Barbara Krantz of the Hanley Center treats prescription drug addicts. She says in the past two years, there has been a significant increase in the number of addicts, according to WPTV News.
“We’re seeing anywhere from approximately eight deaths per day,” Krantz said.
New Pain Clinic Law
There is a new law banning drugs from being dispensed directly by
pain clinics, but clinics are looking for (and have already found) a loophole. The
pain clinics start their own pharmacy instead, and put it inside their own pain clinics. The Sun-Sentinel reported that the state approved 800 new pharmacies in the last year.
The state is going to attempt to close this loophole by enforcing stricter regulation in the future. The state will also move to ban
pain clinics from being near pharmacies.
Criminal Defense
With the spike in pharmacies, pain clinics, and
prescription drug trafficking in
South Florida,
criminal defense lawyers are going to be busy. Law enforcement is expending a significant amount of their budget to prosecute
drug traffickers that hide behind the façade of
pain clinics. If you have been accused of
prescription drug trafficking in affiliation with a pain clinic, you need the skills and experience of a
criminal defense lawyer.