Doctor from Naples who operated a tablet factory sentenced to three years in federal prison

FORT MYERS, Florida. – US District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell today sentenced Gerald Michael Abraham, 76, of Naples, Florida. to three years in federal prison for dispensing controlled substances (oxycodone and amphetamine) without legitimate medical purposes. The court also ordered that Abraham forfeit the following items to the United States that were the proceeds of his illegal activities: a 2020 Acura NSX, a 2020 Porsche GT4, a 2021 Toyota Supra, a 2020 Chevrolet Corvette, a 2020 Aston Martin, a 2020 Nissan 370Z, a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro, two 2020 Ford Mustangs, $ 190,496.56 for a 2021 Aston Martin, and $ 249,598.52 in cash.

According to court documents, Abraham was a licensed psychiatrist practicing in Naples, Florida. His clinic operated only on cash, and patients paid $ 400 per visit.

In October 2019, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) opened an investigation after receiving a notice that Abraham was illegally prescribing strong opioids to patients who did not need the drug. Over the next year, DEA made 18 covert patient visits to Abraham’s office, each time receiving prescriptions for oxycodone. Ignoring signs of substance abuse alleged by the undercover agents, Abraham prescribed oxycodone without ever investigating. Furthermore, Abraham repeatedly increased the strength of the prescriptions just because the patient asked him for more. In one case, he prescribed oxycodone to an undercover patient after telling him that medical records “show you are perfectly normal”.

The research also found that Abraham frequently prescribed Adderall to patients for no legitimate reason. Adderall is the brand name of a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and contains amphetamine, a commonly abused controlled substance. On several occasions, law enforcement agencies observed Abraham simply prescribing Adderall at a patient’s request without asking questions or engaging in any investigation that warranted the prescription.

This case was investigated by the Miami Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration and US Intelligence, with the assistance of the Naples Police Department and the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. The indictment and confiscation were handled by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central Florida District.

Further information on this case can be found at https://www.flmd.uscourts.gov or https://ecf.flmd.uscourts.gov.

See similar https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2021/12/06/naples-doctor-who-operated-pill-mill-sentenced-three-years-federal-prison

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