Drug & Device News

The federal government has entered into a settlement agreement with Avinit Mitra, M.D., to conclude an investigation that led to civil claims that the doctor prescribed medications to a person or persons who were not his patient. The drugs in question were Opana and Oxycontin, both Schedule II controlled substances' usually prescribed for controlling severe pain. As a psychiatrist, Dr. Mitra is legally authorized to write prescriptions, but pain relief medications are not generally ordered by those in his specialty. The settlement, which requires the doctor to pay the gorvernment $45,000, was announced by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut in a release, which explained, “Congress, with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, took steps to attempt to create 'a closed system' of distribution for controlled substances in which every facet of the handling of the substances, from their manufacture to their consumption by the ultimate user, was to be subject to intense governmental regulation. This mission was taken against the backdrop of trying to prevent the diversion and abuse of legitimate controlled substances while at the same time ensuring an adequate supply of those substances needed to meet the medical and scientific needs of the United States.”