The feds have taken note of South Florida's illegally run "pill mills," and a yearlong undercover investigation culminated in an early-morning raid today. It focused on mills that flouted prescription laws. Rounded up in the sweep was Zvi Perper, a Delray clinic owner and son of the Broward medical examiner -- click over to the Pulp for details.
The Sun-Sentinel witnessed a raid taking place at a clinic in Oakland Park. That paper is reporting that
hundreds of officials from a number of agencies (state, local, and federal) were
involved in the three-county sweep. Officials plan to release
more details at a news conference this afternoon.
Rick Scott has recently been throwing up some obstacles
to a proposed set of tighter restrictions on pill mills, including a
patient monitoring database. Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi has
vowed to take an aggressive stance on pill mills, appointing Dave Aronberg as the Palm Beach County-based liaison for enforcement efforts.
Federal officials convened in West Palm Beach last October to address the problem of prescription drug abuse; the not-yet-ousted Drug Czar Bruce Grant spoke of a rampant problem in Florida. Of course, U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske refused to acknowledge a place for legalized medical marijuana -- possibly the most effective way to curb pain pill abuse.
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