Dr. Richard Miron, 76, a solo practitioner of internal medicine, was indicted on multiple charges Thursday by a Middlesex County grand jury. He faces one count of involuntary manslaughter, 23 counts of illegal prescribing of controlled substances and 23 counts of filing false Medicaid claims.
The investigation by the attorney general's office alleges that Miron was responsible for the death of a patient on March 17, 2016.
Medical examiners determined the cause of death to be acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, morphine, codeine and butalbital, all of which were prescribed by Miron.
Investigators said Miron was aware the victim had previously overdosed on opioids that he prescribed on Feb. 2, 2016, but he continued to prescribe large doses of opioids to her on that date and multiple other dates up to March 9.
Investigators also said Miron allegedly prescribed opioids to patients for no legitimate medical purpose in multiple other instances. The attorney general's office claims Miron prescribed the drugs to some patients, despite their documented substance abuse disorders.
The illegal prescriptions Miron allegedly wrote caused pharmacies to unwittingly falsely bill MassHealth for the medication.
The attorney general's office said it began the investigation in September 2017 after the matter was referred by MassHealth.
Miron ranked as the largest provider of high-dose, short-acting oxycodone prescriptions among all MassHealth providers in the state from September 2015 to February 2016.
MassHealth terminated Miron from the program in September 2017 and he is not currently practicing medicine following an agreement with the Massachusetts Board of Registration Medicine.
Miron will be arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court at a later date.
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