Florida doctor who allegedly prescribed large doses of opioids is sentenced

FLORIDA – A South Florida doctor has been sentenced to prison for unlawfully dispensing narcotics, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has announced.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO), Dr. Ronald Lubetsky was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks for unlawfully dispensing narcotics—specifically oxycodone and morphine.

Lubetsky was convicted at trial in November on seven counts of unlawfully dispensing narcotics. Trial evidence reportedly showed that law enforcement learned of Lubetsky’s operation and practices over the course of more than two years. Allegedly, Lubetsky prescribed large doses of opioid pain medication that were not supported by any demonstrable medical need and were, therefore, without any legal basis, the USAO said.

According to the USAO, an expert medical witness called by the government testified that Lubetsky’s prescribing practices were far outside the scope of generally accepted medical practices, were not prescribed for any legitimate medical purpose, and could have had dangerous effects on the patients.

“On two different occasions, law enforcement discovered that a patient had told Lubetsky that she had sold or given away some of her oxycodone pills. When hearing this, the doctor simply issued her more prescriptions. Even an expert medical witness called to testify on behalf of the doctor conceded that some of the doses of opioids Lubetsky prescribed could have sent his patient to the emergency room had she taken them,” the USAO said in its statement.

At sentencing, the United States also provided evidence that during the course of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) investigation, four of Lubetsky’s patients had been arrested for drug deals they set up while in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, the USAO said.

Markenzy Lapointe, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter, DEA, Miami Field Division, made the announcement.

DEA, Miami Field Division, investigated this case with assistance from City of Miami Police Department; Miami Gardens Police Department; Miami-Dade Police Department; and Aventura Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Tamen prosecuted it.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 21-CR-20485.