A judge sentenced a former pharmacy owner and his Pennsylvania pharmacy to pay $4.1 million for healthcare fraud and conspiracy to sell the controlled substance oxycodone.
Mitchell Spivack, 63, pleaded guilty to these offenses in June, according to a Justice Department Oct. 4 news release. His business, Philadelphia-based Verree Pharmacy, ordered the state's biggest supply of oxycodone in 2016, according to the Justice Department.
In an analysis, the Philadelphia Inquirer found that Verree Pharmacy ordered more oxycodone than any other U.S. pharmacy.
Mr. Spivack was sentenced to pay $451,328 restitution and to forfeit $116,000, according to the Justice Department. He and the pharmacy agreed to pay more than $4.1 million to resolve civil liabilities.
The pharmacy, which Mr. Spivack owned for more than 30 years, developed a "no questions asked" reputation in the community toward opioids and dangerous substances, the Justice Department said.
"Mitchell Spivack filled prescriptions outside of medical standards for the highly addictive drug oxycodone, adding fuel to the fire of a crisis that kills 14 Pennsylvanians every day," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement. "Pharmacies and medical professionals have a responsibility under the law to dispense these drugs only when appropriate. Nothing will bring back the lives we've lost to this epidemic, but today's sentence holds Spivack, and Verree pharmacy, accountable for their actions."