The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General has charged Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based orthopedist Robert S. Mathews, M.D. with 14 counts of unlawful prescription of controlled substances.
PA Doc Accused of Unlawfully Prescribing Controlled Substances
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Dr. Mathews is accused of illegally and unethically prescribing medications including Xanax, Adderall, and Subutex. He also purportedly “failed to keep accurate medical records supporting the high volume of controlled substances that he prescribed.”
According to the Office of Attorney General (AG) press release, a medical expert reviewed Dr. Mathews’s patient files. Again, according to the AG, a medical expert allegedly “determined that Dr. Mathews failed to act within the scope of the patient relationship; falsified diagnoses to help patients secure high dose, high quantity, addictive medications; and failed to act in accordance with any of the treatment principles accepted by medical professionals.”
Dr. Mathews allegedly would require urine samples from patients. However, the government asserts that he “would not supervise patients while doing so and would often leave those samples in the office, unattended.” Furthermore, the government claims that Dr. Mathews violated patient confidentiality by leaving “examination room doors open when conducting examinations.”
Investigators also purportedly spoke with former patients. The patient stories, if true, support the allegations. Notably, former patients claim that during appointments Dr. Mathews “would coach them to say they had medical diagnoses that were not accurate in order to justify their controlled substance usage.” The government also claims that former patients described Dr. Mathews’s office as a “pill mill.”
In the press release, Attorney General Josh Shapiro commented, “Dr. Mathews was trusted to thoughtfully write prescriptions in his patients’ best interests.”
Shapiro continued, “Instead, he used his access to prescribe addictive medications that devastated many lives and families in Lancaster County.”
The Office of Attorney General Director of Diversion and Lancaster County’s Assistant District Attorney are prosecuting the matter. Dr. Mathews is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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