TOLEDO, Ohio — A doctor who operated out of Sandusky was sentenced to prison for illegally prescribing narcotics to patients for eight years, the United States Department of Justice announced in a press release Thursday.
Gregory Gerber, a 58-year-old from Port Clinton, was sentenced to 42 months in prison, followed by one year of home confinement for the first of three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and $861,892.13 in restitution, the release said. Gerber had previously pleaded guilty to the charge of illegally dispensing narcotics to patients.
Between January 2010 and August 2018, Gerber used his practice in Sandusky to prescribe narcotics, such as fentanyl, oxycodone and oxymorphone, among other drugs, to patients who did not medically need it and without performing patient physical examinations. The drugs were prescribed in "excessive doses" and "for long periods of time," the press release stated. Gerber also ignored signs of addiction and drug abuse among his patients.
"This disgraced doctor violated the most important oath - to do no harm," Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in the press release. "No punishment can reverse the damage of the opioid crisis, but we are fortunate to have investigators and partner agencies that root out these criminal schemes."
Prosecutors said Gerber benefited financially from the illegal prescription of painkillers. According to the press release, Gerber received $175,000 over three years from Insys Therapeutics, Inc. for promoting and prescribing Subsys, a specific branded formulation of fentanyl.
Pharmaceutical companies, such as Purdue Pharama, are often cited as a catalyst of a nationwide opioid epidemic by persuading doctors to prescribe their drugs. In Ohio, the OneOhio Recovery Foundation is seeking to distribute over $860 million in settlement money to community and government organizations to address the overdose epidemic.
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