Virginia physician sentenced for overprescribing opioids linked to seven overdose deaths.
A Virginia physician with a protracted historical past in medication goes to jail after years of writing huge numbers of opioid prescriptions with out correct care. David Allingham, who owned a clinic known as Oakton Major Care Middle, was sentenced to 13 years behind bars. Federal prosecutors say that as an alternative of serving to individuals recuperate, he performed a significant half in worsening their dependancy struggles. They are saying he handed out greater than 400,000 capsules like oxycodone and amphetamines throughout northern Virginia and Richmond—typically for no legitimate medical motive.
Allingham, 65, didn’t simply write quite a lot of prescriptions—he did so whereas ignoring severe purple flags. A few of his sufferers had failed drug assessments or have been identified to be utilizing avenue medicine like fentanyl and heroin. Nonetheless, the Virginia physician stored writing scripts. Prosecutors say he even went as far as to lie in medical information and use one other physician’s title to approve prescriptions. In a single case, he helped a affected person attempt to regain custody of his children by faking drug display screen outcomes, despite the fact that he knew the person was addicted and dealing medicine. That very same affected person died of an overdose not lengthy after Allingham gave him a number of prescriptions, together with one for a drug meant to forestall relapse when used appropriately—however not when taken alongside opioids.
The hurt wasn’t simply medical. A few of Allingham’s former sufferers misplaced all the things. One girl stated she had by no means struggled with dependancy earlier than seeing him, however after being prescribed excessive doses of painkillers, she grew to become hooked. She misplaced her dwelling and described her new life as unrecognizable. “I really feel so ashamed that it has crippled me,” she advised officers. One other former affected person stated she had an identical expertise, falling right into a spiral she couldn’t escape due to the prescriptions she acquired at his clinic.
Allingham’s actions caught the eye of each pharmacies and medical boards. CVS Well being observed that since 2020, the variety of oxycodone prescriptions coming from him had jumped fivefold. Practically half have been high-dose prescriptions. When CVS stopped filling them, he advised workers and sufferers to go to smaller, unbiased pharmacies as an alternative. Then, throughout a federal raid in 2023, he advised an worker to delete textual content messages and gave false data to brokers. These actions added to the authorized bother he now faces.
The choose didn’t sentence the Virginia physician to life in jail, although that was throughout the scope of what prosecutors have been looking for. As a substitute, he was given 13 years after pleading responsible to a number of severe costs, together with drug distribution and mendacity in a healthcare matter. His protection argued that he meant effectively however made poor selections. They stated he believed he was serving to sufferers keep away from avenue medicine by trusting them and writing prescriptions.
Between 2016 and 2023, at the very least seven of his sufferers died from overdoses shortly after receiving prescriptions from him. One man who had been seeing Allingham for 4 years died inside weeks of receiving each anti-relapse remedy and a brand new oxycodone prescription. His widow stated in courtroom that Allingham had abused the belief that comes with being a physician, calling the result “devastating.”
The case highlights the deep attain of the opioid disaster within the U.S., the place hundreds of lives are misplaced every year to overdose. In 2022 alone, greater than 100,000 individuals died from drug overdoses, with most of these deaths linked to opioids. These numbers present that the disaster continues to have an effect on individuals throughout all backgrounds and communities. For some, a trusted physician’s decisions made the distinction between restoration and tragedy.
Sources:
Habit physician’s ‘sloppy’ practices led to 7 deadly overdoses in VA, feds say
Medical doctors nudged by overdose letter prescribe fewer opioids
