United States Drug Enforcement Administration

BROOKFIELD, Conn. - Michael J. Ferguson Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Cheryl Karcher, M.D., 57, of Brookfield, Conn., and New York, N.Y., has entered into a civil settlement agreement with the government in which she will pay $150,000 to resolve allegations that she violated civil provisions of the Controlled Substances Act.

Karcher is a plastic surgeon associated with Sadick Dermatology located at 911 Park Avenue in Manhattan.  The allegations against her involve claims that she wrote at least 15 prescriptions for Percocet, a Schedule II Narcotic drug, outside the course of her normal medical practice.  The 15 prescriptions, which were filled at pharmacies in Connecticut, were not dispensed to the individuals whose name was on the prescriptions.

“The improper diversion of potent pharmaceuticals risks the safety of those individuals that ultimately use these drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Daly.  “This settlement sends a message to the medical community that there are real consequences for practicing medicine outside the proper course of medical practice.”

Karcher was prosecuted by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York in a related criminal case.  The case against her was dismissed after she completed a court-ordered drug treatment program.
The federal investigation was conducted by investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Office of Diversion Control in Rocky Hill, Conn.