Criminal Defense Attorney | Criminal Defense Law

Blog Published By Kenneth Padowitz, P.A.

‘Oxycontin’

Drug Trafficking | State v. Sanchez

Drug Trafficking Charge Not All Charges Are Equal There are often completely different outcomes in similar criminal cases depending on the statute an individual is charged with. Prosecution must be accurate and precise in their charging decisions. Charging someone with the wrong crime can result in charges being dropped; cases are lost all the time due to technicalities. In State v. Sanchez, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal acknowledges the importance of being charging an individual under the correct statute, but then goes ahead and reverses the trial court’s decision based on an interpretation of the law. Betsy Sanchez, a nurse practitioner, was charged with nine conspiracy and drug trafficking offenses. The prosecution claimed she had been selling prescription drugs, including various painkillers such as Oxycontin. They went further to say that these prescriptions were “written in bad faith and not in the course of professional practice.” At trial, prosecution had a debate over whether the charges filed were correctly chosen; 893.135(1)(c) or 893.13(8). The section under 893.135(1)(c) does not apply to medical practitioners; and penalties range up to first degree felonies. Statute 893.13(8), specifically applies… Read More

Seeking to Make Drug Maker Pay for OxyContin Abuse

More than 20,000 Americans a year have been killed, jails have become filled, treatment centers are frequently visited, and the reemergence of heroin use; all which can be traced to prescription drug abuse. And nowhere is the pill problem more prevalent than in Kentucky’s Appalachians, where officials trace its roots to the aggressive marketing of one potent drug: OxyContin. A Civil lawsuit has been in the works for seven years and time has ticked, but finally there is light at the end of the tunnel. The end result being making drugmaker Purdue Pharma pay. As early as next year, it could bring the first-ever jury trial pitting Purdue against an addiction-plagued state over the painkiller, which experts say may lead more communities to file suit; Chicago and two California counties already have. “This is about holding them accountable,” says Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway. “They played a pre-eminent role in the state’s drug problem. This started to explode in the mid-1990s, when Purdue Pharms was marketing OxyContin. The resulting opiate epidemic … is a direct result.” An aggressive and deceptive marketing campaign misled doctors, consumers… Read More