Police Raid Suspected Northlake Parkway Pill Mill
The Drug Enforcement Agency and DeKalb County police were investigating Southern Health Management on Thursday afternoon.
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UPDATE: [6:28pm] Southern Health Management owner Jeffrey Gonzalez spoke to reporters outside the building as he was taken away in handcuffs, charged with criminal conspiracy, saying that his business was legitimate and that he knows President Obama, according to an evening WSB-TV news broadcast.
"I find it hard to believe that the president would come to a criminal's house. We medicate people for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons," Gonzalez said. He also said "churches run America."
WSB reported law enforcement officials found "box after box" of medications on the premises and inside vehicles in the parking lot. The station showed footage of cars, many with out-of-state tags, being towed away. During the raid, more people arrived at the clinic who were then arrested, the report said.
FIRST POST: [2:28pm] DeKalb County police and Drug Enforcement Agency officials were investigating a possible pill mill on Northlake Parkway on Thursday afternoon.
Officers from both organizations raided a Southern Health Management building at 2060 Northlake Parkway in Northlake, according to WSB-TV. Details are scant.
More on this story to come.
J. Ellis
4:30 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
I think you do to many "Breaking News" alerts. You don't even have details about this case. I appreciate receiving the Patch emails but more than one a day is getting to be to much. Just my opinion.
Jonathan Cribbs
5:04 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Hi, J.,
I understand what you're saying. Here's the deal: I'm actually pretty conservative about the breaking news alerts. I think I average about two of month – and that's lately. I can almost count on two hands the number of alerts I've sent out since the site launched in December 2010. But it's good to hear comments like that to make sure I don't get out of hand. I understand that you feel I'm already there. I'll keep that in mind.
As for the lack of detail, that's just the case with breaking news. There often isn't a lot of detail. But at the very least, the report gives someone who's driving by that building, wondering what all the fuss is about, a quick idea of what is going on there. That's the hope, at least. At best, I think it's a story that should get more interesting, and, now, people know to look for it if they're interested.
But, like I said, I'll keep in mind everything you're saying. I'm sensitive to your concerns. Thanks.
Diana Jackson
7:00 pm on Friday, June 15, 2012
It is your choice to read it or ignore it....duh!
Tom Doolittle
10:14 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Can't believe you didn't pick up on this..maybe they did at Tucker Patch. You can throw a stone from this place to the DeKalb Central Police Precinct. Hilarious...but also very interesting.
Tom Doolittle
10:44 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Competition:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/06/13/498675/seven-more-states-may-legalize-medical-marijuana-in-2012/
Tom Doolittle
11:18 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Love your job--Gotta pay off the medical school loans somehow:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-06/american-pain-the-largest-u-dot-s-dot-pill-mills-rise-and-fall#p2
"According to George’s indictment, doctors at his clinics were paid a flat fee for each opioid prescription they wrote—typically, $75 to $100 a pop. To help maximize their efficiency, doctors were given prescription stamps they could use quickly, over and over. It was common for physicians at American Pain to see 100 patients a day, he says. At that rate a doctor would earn roughly $37,500 a week—or $1.95 million a year."
Tom Doolittle
11:30 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Above article's comment section:
"Overdose deaths involving these opioid pain relievers (oxycodone and hydrocodone; and synthetic narcotics such as fentanyl and propoxyphene) now exceed deaths from heroin and cocaine combined (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Prescription drug overdoses have been increasing in the United States over the last decade, and by 2008 had reached 36,450 deaths - almost as many as from motor vehicle crashes (39,973)."