Perry Physician Indicted For Unlawfully Dispensing Controlled Substances
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division, and Pamela C. Marsh, United (US) Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announce the arrest of Perry, Florida, physician Eulogio Muncal Vizcarra, 71, yesterday on charges contained in a federal grand jury indictment. Vizcarra was charged with 49 counts of unlawfully dispensing, or causing the dispensing of controlled substances.
According to the indictment, Vizcarra operated a medical business known as the Perry Family Medical Clinic on S. Jefferson Street in Perry, Florida, where Vizcarra is charged to have prescribed controlled substances to patients without sufficient medical necessity. He allegedly prescribed these substances in quantities and dosages that caused patients to abuse, misuse, and become addicted to the drugs. The indictment further alleges that Vizcarra prescribed controlled substances to patients knowing that the patients were addicted to and misusing these drugs, and that he continued to prescribe addictive controlled substances to patients even after learning that the patients had suffered overdoses on the drugs, were selling the drugs, or were ‘doctor shopping.’
Vizcarra made his initial court appearance today before US Magistrate Judge Charles A. Stampelos at the US District Courthouse in Tallahassee. The trial is scheduled for April 14, 2014, before US District Judge Mark E. Walker.
If convicted, Vizcarra faces a term of up to 5, 10, or 20 years imprisonment depending upon the controlled substances involved, and a fine of up to $1,000,000.
This investigation was conducted by the DEA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshals Service, the Florida Department of Health, and Taylor County Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the Government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
