BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury has indicted a Springville couple and a Moody physician on charges they operated a pill mill in St. Clair County for four years, announced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Thomas J. Holloman.
A 20-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges Cindy Louise Hyche Dunn, 53, her husband, Thomas Mason Dunn, 56, and Dr. John Ladd Buckingham, 85, in a conspiracy to operate a clinic in Moody for the main purpose of illegally distributing or dispensing controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose. The object of the conspiracy was for the participants to enrich themselves, according to the indictment.
The group ran Cindy Dunn & Dr. Buckingham, M.D., Weight Loss Clinic and Pain Management (CDPM) from January 2012 through December 2015. “Personal greed motivates the people who operate illegal pain clinics, mass-prescribing opioids without medical justification and with no regard to the larger pain they bring to individuals, families and communities,” Town said.
The indictment includes 16 counts charging Cindy Dunn and Buckingham with unlawfully dispensing a controlled substance, all containing opioids. As part of the conspiracy and in disregard for usual standards of professional medical practice, Cindy Dunn, Buckingham and other co-conspirators prescribed more than 13,500 methadone-based pills to one patient and more than 8,200 oxycodone-based pills to another patient.
Cindy Dunn, owner and president of CDPM, operated the clinic, including hiring and directing physicians and staff and making financial decisions. Thomas Dunn performed various administrative and financial duties for CDPM and received prescriptions for opioids from the clinic, according to the indictment. Buckingham was a licensed physician in Alabama, but was not a certified pain management specialist.
“The abuse of prescription drugs is a serious problem in our communities – leading to addiction, shattered lives, and even death,” Hamilton said. “For the health and safety of our citizens, DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to target those who illegally obtain and distribute these potentially dangerous drugs. We hope that these indictments serve as a reminder to anyone who might illegally divert pharmaceuticals that they will be held accountable for the harm they cause.”
Holloman said, “This was a classic example of a pill mill and these individuals will be held accountable. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in tackling the opioid epidemic head on in the state of Alabama. In following the money, you can trace the drug proceeds to the beneficiaries and bring the entire conspiracy ring to justice.”
The clinic, which charged a $25 patient application fee, typically prescribed high amounts of opioids to patients, with some receiving over 7,000 pills, according to the indictment. The investigation into CDPM is ongoing and those involved are expected to face severe consequences. The Northern District of Alabama is committed to fighting opioid abuse and will continue to work with law enforcement partners to investigate and shut down illegal pill mills.
Related Federal Cases
- Huntsville ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Aggarwal Pleads Guilty · Alabama
- Phenix City Doc Pleads Guilty to Pill Mill Scheme & Money Laundering · Alabama
- Huntsville Doc Gets 15-Year Sentence for Pill Mill Fraud · Alabama
- Nurse Practitioner Parker Sentenced in Pill Mill Case · Alabama
- Phenix City Pill Mill Doc Gets 10-Year Sentence · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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