The Supreme Court will hear argument next week in two consolidated cases that will decide what standard applies when a doctor asserts a good faith defense to a criminal prosecution for unlawful drug distribution.  The argument on Tuesday, March 1, will address the convictions of two doctors accused of running “pill mills” and seeking to profit in the midst of the national opioid crisis.  According to the Government, “the petitioners simply cloaked themselves in medical garb while acting as drug dealers, lining their own pockets by dispensing addictive, dangerous, and lethal drugs, aware all the while that their profit-seeking came at the expense of their patients’ health.”

Yiulu Ruan was convicted in the Southern District of Alabama of conspiring to unlawfully distribute controlled substances, unlawfully distributing controlled substances, and other offenses, and was sentenced to twenty one years and two months imprisonment.  His conviction was affirmed by the Eleventh Circuit.  Shakeel Kahn was convicted in the District of Wyoming of conspiring to dispense and distribute controlled substances resulting in death, unlawfully dispensing controlled substances, and other offenses, and was sentenced to twenty five years imprisonment.  His conviction was affirmed by the Tenth Circuit.
Continue Reading Supreme Court To Hear Argument Addressing Doctors’ Good Faith Defense To Pill Mill Prosecutions