Judge prohibits Florida doctor from prescribing opioids

FLORIDA – A Florida doctor has been temporarily prohibited from prescribing opioids, the U.S. Department of Justice said in an announcement.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), a federal court issued a temporary restraining order this week prohibiting the Tampa-area physician from prescribing opioids and other controlled substances.

In a complaint filed on July 18 and unsealed this week, the United States alleges that Dr. Neelam Taneja Uppal unlawfully wrote opioid prescriptions in the names of individuals depicted in photographs of driver’s licenses she received via text messages from a third party in exchange for payment for the prescriptions.

The complaint alleges that Uppal never met the individuals for whom she wrote prescriptions and that she sold the prescriptions to a third party. The complaint further alleges that Uppal received thousands of dollars in cash on multiple occasions for a variety of opioid prescriptions. The complaint seeks to permanently bar Uppal from issuing controlled substances prescriptions or owning or supervising a pain clinic, and it also seeks civil penalties.

“It is unlawful for a physician to write opioid prescriptions for individuals they have never met and then sell those prescriptions to a third party,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

“The Department of Justice will use every enforcement tool available under the Controlled Substances Act to protect our communities from rogue medical professionals.”

U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber granted the temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the DOJ said.

DEA’s Tactical Diversion Squad in the Tampa District Office is conducting the ongoing investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsay S. Griffin and Trial Attorneys Thomas S. Rosso and Scott B. Dahlquist of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch are handling the case.

The claims made in the complaint are merely allegations that the United States must prove if the case proceeds to trial.