Physician And His Patient Indicted In Scheme To Fraudulently Prescribe And Dispense Oxycodone And Adderall
CHICAGO - A southwest suburban doctor and his patient are facing federal drug charges for allegedly scheming to fraudulently prescribe and dispense thousands of Oxycodone and Adderall pills, authorities announced today.
From approximately January 2010 to July 2013, Dr. William Mikaitis issued over 500 prescriptions for Oxycodone and Adderall tablets to his patient, David Stelmachowski, without ordering medical tests or performing a thorough physical examination, according to a 25-count federal indictment. Stelmachowski filled the prescriptions at 80 different Chicago-area pharmacy locations so as to avoid attracting attention to such a high number of prescriptions and pills, the indictment alleges. In all, Stelmachowski used these prescriptions to obtain approximately 37,000 pills or tablets of Oxycodone and Adderall, according to the indictment.
The indictment was returned last week in U.S. District Court in Chicago and unsealed today. The indictment charges Mikaitis and Stelmachowski with conspiring to distribute misbranded prescription drugs and conspiring to acquire controlled substances by fraud and deception. The two counts carry a combined maximum sentence of nine years in prison.
Mikaitis, 72, of Burr Ridge, is also individually charged with 15 counts of distributing a controlled substance outside the scope of professional practice. Each count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Stelmachowski, 38, of River Forest, faces eight individual counts of possessing Oxycodone with the intent to distribute. These counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Mikaitis pleaded not guilty during an arraignment yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim. Stelmachowski will be arraigned at a later date to be set by the Court.
The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Dennis A. Wichern, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration; Mark S. McCormack, Acting Special Agent-in- Charge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office in Chicago; and Stephen Boyd, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider.
Parents and children are encouraged to educate themselves about the dangers of drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com and www.dea.gov.
