Nearly two months after a Sherwood doctor agreed to reimburse the Arkansas State Medical Board $20,000 in return for it dropping findings that he violated state law and board regulations by over-prescribing pain medication and failing to keep proper records, the United States is suing him under federal law.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, federal prosecutors are seeking penalties of up to $1.21 million against United Pain Care, doing business as United Pharmacy, and Dr. Mahmood Ahmad. They allege Ahmad, who operated a pain management clinic and a pharmacy in the same building at 7841 Warden Road, committed 121 violations of the Controlled Substances Act between Jan. 27, 2012, and May 30, 2013, and they contend he is liable for up to $10,000 for each violation.
On Feb. 6, the Arkansas State Medical Board agreed in a 9-3 vote to drop its findings against Ahmad, in exchange for him agreeing to reimburse the board for the costs of its investigations of him and submit to an audit of his patient records.
The allegations in the federal lawsuit center on record keeping, noting that the pharmacy failed to indicate the date it received Schedule II controlled substances as well as the quantity received, was missing two Drug Enforcement Administration order forms documenting the receipt of controlled substances, and failed to maintain the forms for two years.
Based on 10 discrepancies found during an audit of 11 controlled substances, the pharmacy also lacked complete and accurate dispensing and receiving records for several controlled substances classified as Schedule II through Schedule V narcotics, the suit alleges.
It also alleges the pharmacy failed to note on 106 invoices the date it received controlled substances classified as Schedule III through Schedule V.
In February, Ahmad said most of the complaints that the state board received had come from pharmacists who were unhappy that his clinic had its own pharmacy. He said he has since closed the on-site pharmacy and has attended a board-recommended Vanderbilt University course on prescribing pain medicine.
According to board records, one complaint was from a 59-year-old woman who said her husband had been overmedicated, and blamed the medicine for his May 3, 2012, suicide.
Metro on 04/03/2015