United States Drug Enforcement Administration

CINCINNATI, OH - The U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Robert L. Corso announced today the immediate suspensions of the DEA Certificate of Registration for four physicians and a pharmacy operating in Scioto County, Ohio. The DEA served Immediate Suspension (ISO) on physicians Margy Temponeras, John Temponeras, Mark Fantazuzzi, and Michael Dawes. The DEA also served an ISO on Prime Pharmacy, 902 Fourth Street, Portsmouth, Ohio. This administrative action suspends the above physicians’ and pharmacy’s authority to prescribe or dispense Schedule II-V controlled substances.

The actions today suspend DEA Certificates of Registration in accordance with an Immediate Suspension Order and pursuant to Sections 303 and 304 of the Controlled Substances (CSA), Title 21, Sections 823 and 824. The Immediate Suspension Orders are based on a preliminary finding by DEA that the continued registration of the doctors and pharmacy constitutes an imminent danger to public health and safety. The Immediate Suspension Order prohibits the physicians and pharmacy from possessing or dispensing controlled substances, pending the resolution of their respective investigations.

DEA Special Agent in Charge Corso stated: “Nationally, prescription drug abuse is one of our largest substance abuse problems, and in southern Ohio abuse of pharmaceuticals has reached almost epidemic proportions. Doctors that prescribe dangerous drugs, for reasons not driven by medical need, are a danger to the community. The actions taken today illustrate that DEA is committed to work with our law enforcement partners and attack this problem head on.”

Dr. Margy Temponeras is one of the largest dispensers of controlled substances in the United States. Dr. Fantazuzzi and Dr. Dawes, both have worked at one time at Southern Ohio Complete Pain Management in Portsmouth, Ohio, and are responsible for the prescribing of hundreds of thousands of oxycodone products and anti-anxiety medications over the past two years.

The DEA also announced that today it served an ISO on Prime Pharmacy, 904 4th Street, Portsmouth, Ohio. The suspension order prohibits the employees at Prime Pharmacy from continuing to possess, order, or dispense Schedule II - Schedule V controlled substances, such as hydrocodone and oxycodone.

In addition, the DEA served notice of an Order to Show Cause on Physicians Pharmacy, 727 Second Street, Piketon, Ohio. This is a business that has applied for a DEA Certificate of Registration to handle controlled substances.

The physicians and businesses listed above received written notice of the factual and legal basis for this action. All will be given an opportunity for an administrative hearing on the ISOs and the Order to Show Cause. At that time, the physicians, and businesses listed above may contest whether the suspension orders should be lifted, and their certificates of registration should be reinstated. This decision will be published in the Federal Register.