United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WEST HARTFORD, CT. - Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that MURRAY WELLNER, M.D., with an office at 10 Dale Street, West Hartford, has entered into a civil settlement agreement with the Government in which he will pay $42,500 to resolve allegations that he violated civil provisions of the Controlled Substances Act.

The allegations against WELLNER involve claims that he wrote 11 prescriptions that were outside the normal scope of his medical practice in that these prescriptions were not dispensed to the individuals whose names were on the prescriptions. The prescriptions were for Vyvanase and Subutex, both Schedule II controlled substances. Additional claims related to WELLNER’s failure to account for all of the controlled substances that he purchased and dispensed from his office.

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 pervasive government controls. 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.

This investigation was conducted by investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of Diversion Control in Rocky Hill, and the State of Connecticut, Department of Consumer Protection, Drug Control Division.