TEXARKANA, Arkansas (KSLA) – A Texarkana doctor has been sentenced to prison in a federal prison for writing unnecessary prescriptions.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announces that 59-year-old Dr. Lonnie Parker will spend the next seven years and three months (87 months) in prison for writing prescriptions without a legitimate medical purpose. For the two counts of distribution of Schedule II narcotics without a valid prescription, Dr. Parker will spend 87 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. For the two counts of distribution of Schedule V narcotics without a valid prescription, he will spend one year in prison followed by one year of supervised release. All of these sentences will be served concurrently.
The Justice Department says that according to information presented in court, the DEA launched an investigation into Dr. Parker in 2018 after receiving complaints from local police about an alleged “pill mill” and the possible death of a patient from an overdose.
Investigators looked into the complaint and found that Dr. Parker prescribed opiates, benzodiazepines and promethazine along with codeine cough syrup unusually frequently and usually in large quantities. During the two-year investigation period, Dr. Parker prescribed about 1.2 million dosage units of opiates, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, to about 1,500 patients. The Justice Department says Dr. Parker also prescribed about 16 gallons of promethazine along with codeine cough syrup to about 30 patients. Among those prescriptions were several combinations of narcotics and sedatives for patients at high risk for substance abuse.
Dr. Parker was found guilty in October 2022. He practiced at Primary Care Specialists in Texarkana.
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