FROM: FILTER
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“IF EVER ONE THINKS THEY’RE TOO SMALL TO MAKE CHANGES, THEN THEY HAVE NEVER SLEPT WITH A MOSQUITO !!!”
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NORMAN J CLEMENT RPH., DDS, NORMAN L.CLEMENT PHARM-TECH, MALACHI F. MACKANDAL PHARMD, BELINDA BROWN-PARKER, IN THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH SOLVO ESQ., INC.T. SPIRIT OF REV. C.T. VIVIAN, JELANI ZIMBABWE CLEMENT, BS., MBA., IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HON. PATRICE LUMUMBA, IN THE SPIRIT OF ERLIN CLEMENT SR., WALTER F. WRENN III., MD., JULIE KILLINGWORTH, LESLY POMPY MD., CHRISTOPHER RUSSO, MD., NANCY SEEFELDT, WILLIE GUINYARD BS., JOSEPH WEBSTER MD., MBA, BEVERLY C. PRINCE MD., FACS., NEIL ARNAND, MD., RICHARD KAUL, MD., LEROY BAYLOR, JAY K. JOSHI MD., MBA, ADRIENNE EDMUNDSON, ESTER HYATT PH.D., WALTER L. SMITH BS., IN THE SPIRIT OF BRAHM FISHER ESQ., MICHELE ALEXANDER MD., CUDJOE WILDING BS, MARTIN NJOKU, BS., RPH., IN THE SPIRIT OF DEBRA LYNN SHEPHERD, BERES E. MUSCHETT, STRATEGIC ADVISORS
“WE ARE NOT POWERLESS AND THROUGH OUR VIDEOS, WRITINGS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS WE WILL EXPOSE THE ABUSES AND TYRANNY OF UNITED STATES DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
JUST AS THE VIDEO WAS RECORDED BY THE CELL PHONE CAMERA OF YOUNG DARNELLA FRAZIER, BORE WITNESS TO THE MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD THE BLOG youarewithinthenorms.com BARES WITNESS AND BOTH ALLOWS THE SYSTEM TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE”
“WE ARE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, PHYSICIANS, DENTISTS, PHARMACISTS, NOT STREET DRUG DEALERS “
On June 27, the United States Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the government cannot rightfully prosecute prescribers for violating the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) unless it can demonstrate that the violation was committed knowingly or intentionally. Coming just days after the rollback of Roe v. Wade, the Ruan v. United States decision represents a significant curtailing of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) oversight—and a victory for chronic pain patients and everyone who prescribes or receives controlled substances.
The case involved two doctors, Xiulu Ruan and Shakeel Kahn, who were separately convicted—unlawfully, per the new ruling—of improper opioid prescribing and sentenced to 21 and 25 years in prison, respectively. SCOTUS has now kicked the case back to the lower courts, where the doctors will be able to challenge their convictions. Delivering the court opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that a doctor issuing a CSA prescription is not acting unlawfully if they believe “in good faith that the prescription is a valid means of pursuing a medical purpose.”
It has been “easier to convict a doctor of a federal felony and send them to prison for the rest of their lives than it is to win a medical malpractice case or action at the state board,” Jennifer Oliva, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings, told Filter. “That’s flipping the law on its head.”
“Under the way this statute was being interpreted, the government can put on some expert [and ask], ‘Do most doctors do this?’ and the expert says ‘No’ … Now you’re going to federal prison.”
Oliva, who co-authored an amicus brief in support of the doctors in the case, said that the DEA has increasingly been given authority to punish providers for whatever it deems to be improper practice, when that should be under the jurisdiction of state medical boards.
“Boards are staffed with medical doctors and bring in experts in the field,” she said. “That’s different than the federal government using a law enforcement statute that was meant to apply to illicit drug distributors … to have this blunt-force instrument where they can come in and suspend a prescriber.”
The chilling effect on prescribers has brought immeasurable suffering for US pain patients and contributed to public demonization of opioids that further fuels the drug war. With the Ruan decision, SCOTUS has clarified in the public record that a prescriber’s state of mind, and the intention behind their actions, is what matters in the context of federal criminal law—not the DEA’s reading of their actions.
Todays Ruan decision is right on law, right on the science Also a rebuke of DEA’s harmful, wasteful blanket campaign against prescribers and pharmacists as scapegoats in the spiraling overdose crisis Kudos to
@jenndoliva
· Jun 27
This is a huge win for pain patients, those in need of MOUD & others needing access to controlled substances. Now we just need a communications campaign to disseminate the findings to doctors in the hopes that it will assuage their fears of the DEA.
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Jennifer Oliva
@jenndoliva
SCOTUS sides with the petitioner and Health Law Professors in Ruan v. United States 9-0 ruling that CSA Section 941 has a scienter requirement. More commentary to follow after I give it a close read. Opinion by Justice Breyer here: https://supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1410_1an2.pdf…
“Under the way this statute was being interpreted,” Oliva continued, “the government can put on some expert [and ask], ‘Do most doctors do this?’ and the expert says ‘No’ … and then they say you’re outside the scope of what the ordinary physician is doing here. Now you’re going to federal prison.”
Threatening controlled substance prescribers with incarceration has reduced neither drug use nor overdose. Rather, restricting access to regulated opioids has only pushed people toward the adulterated unregulated supply, increasing overdose risks and deaths.
Photograph via Wyoming Department of Health
Alexander LekhtmanAlexander is Filter’s staff writer. He writes about the movement to end the War on Drugs. He grew up in New Jersey and swears it’s actually alright. He’s also a musician hoping to change the world through the power of ledger lines and legislation. Alexander was previously Filter‘s editorial fellow.
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