The first complaint, filed in 2013, examined five of Dr. Thomas Velleff’s patients’ medical records and stated he “treated these patients for chronic pain and prescribed controlled substances to them inappropriately or in excessive or inappropriate quantities or combinations.” It also states Dr. Velleff skipped exams and monitoring programs for these patients.
In 2015, a second complaint against Dr. Velleff was filed, alleging he overprescribed opioids to a patient who could not adequately explain why she was running out of her medications early and whose drug screens consistently showed results inconsistent with her prescribed medications.
The final complaint alleged Dr. Velleff prescribed an excessive amount of oxycodone without justifying the high volume. The complaint also alleges that based on the patient’s medical profile, the “prevailing standard of medical care” should have discouraged Dr. Velleff from prescribing oxycodone in combination with Valium.
The third complaint also stated that Dr. Velleff asked the patient in question for $35,000 and received the money, as the patient “felt obligated to provide the loan.”
Dr. Velleff held his license in Florida since Aug. 26, 1983, according to the Miami Herald. In 2002, he was fined $10,000 for abandoning his Orange City, Fla., office, leaving patients who needed their health records to face a deserted space and disconnected phone lines.
Dr. Velleff was not present or represented by counsel at the Florida Board of Medicine’s hearing on his license, according to the revocation notice. He did not respond to the Miami Herald‘s various requests for comment.
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Walmart pharmacists warned for years about potentially illegal opioid sales, report finds
How Delaware is using the money from its opioid impact charge
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