“..I’ve been waiting 20 years for you..”
“..WE ARE NOT POWERLESS, AND THROUGH OUR VIDEOS, WRITINGS, AND PHOTOGRAPHS, WE WILL EXPOSE THE ABUSES AND TYRANNY …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 bears WITNESS, AND BOTH ALLOWS THE SYSTEM TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE..”
from youarewithinthenorms.com
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., SPIRIT OF REV. IN THE SPIRIT OF WALTER R. CLEMENT BS., MS, MBA. HARVEY JENKINS, MD, PH.D., IN THE SPIRIT OF C.T. VIVIAN, JELANI ZIMBABWE CLEMENT, BS., M.B.A., IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HON. PATRICE LUMUMBA, IN THE SPIRIT OF ERLIN CLEMENT SR., EVELYN J. CLEMENT, IN THE SPIRIT OF WALTER F. WRENN III., MD., JULIE KILLINGSWORTH, RENEE BLARE, RPH, DR. TERENCE SASAKI, MD LESLY POMPY MD., CHRISTOPHER RUSSO, MD., NANCY SEEFELDT, IN THE SPIRIT OF WILLIE GUINYARD BS., JOSEPH WEBSTER MD., MBA, BEVERLY C. PRINCE MD., FACS., NEIL ARNAND, MD., IN THE SPIRIT OF RICHARD KAUL, MD., IN THE SPIRIT OF LEROY BAYLOR, JAY K. JOSHI MD., MBA, AISHA GARDNER, 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
a beautiful face in the wrong places
“Every conversation is about more than headlines — it’s about connecting the dots, remembering who we are, and imagining who we can be. Whether it’s politics, culture, history, or health, our goal is always the same: to equip our people with knowledge, to build community, and to move us forward together. At the heart of what I do is this belief: media is not just about information, it’s about transformation. When we listen, learn, and act — we change the world around us. Stay curious. Stay courageous. Stay committed.“
KAREN HUNTER XM-126 THE ACADEMIC GATEKEEPERS AND MISGUIDED NOISE
“…We tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. We ask the hard questions, because our community deserves real answers.”
PAIN, PILLS, AND PREJUDICE
Angela Green, in her book “Legalized Extortion, America’s War on Doctors,” offers a critical perspective on the term “America’s War on Doctors.” Ms Green’s narrative explores the mechanics of federal overreach, further arguing that government agencies such as the DEA and DOJ are systematically targeting physicians, often based on accusations of overprescribing opioids or committing Medicaid fraud.
In her book Legalized Extortion, author Angela Greene exposes a systemic government campaign to criminalize Black and Brown healthcare providers. The narrative details how federal agencies such as the DEA and the Department of Justice use civil asset forfeiture and “legalized extortion” to bankrupt physicians under the guise of fraud prevention.
Drawn from the work of Dr. Barbara Reynolds, this book spans more than 40 years, highlighting that minority doctors, particularly Black and Brown physicians, are systematically and disproportionately investigated. It also describes the systemic and historical struggle faced by Black medical providers, characterized by a process referred to as “Tulsafication.” This term links the modern regulatory targeting of Black physicians to the historical destruction of Black prosperity, suggesting a deliberate effort to undermine their careers and livelihoods.
These sources argue that administrative errors in Medicaid and Medicare are intentionally reclassified as criminal acts to reduce public healthcare costs. By targeting doctors who serve poor and elderly populations, the government effectively dismantles healthcare infrastructure in marginalized communities. This text highlights the devastating human cost, including the federal imprisonment of nearly 6,000 innocent doctors, pharmacists, dentists, and the suicides of patients left without pain management, and Greene presents this ongoing phenomenon as a coordinated attack on the independence and wealth of minority medical professionals
THE BOXES
JUNE 2015 CARL NELSON SHOW:
Barbara Reynolds
“I found doctors sleeping in cars and abandoned buildings because something has to be enforced to pay exorbitant fines to the government for being homeless. I thought law enforcement officers with guns drawn were having more, invading medical offices, often finding no evidence of wrongdoing, the mere terror of the invasion, and chasing their patients away. And I saw doctors who some of them became destitute and had to go on welfare. And on several occasions I found doctors couldn’t take any more and killed themselves. And so I can go on with specifics and speak, but it hurt me so bad
(Mr. Fishman): “Q. Is the government targeting physicians a form of selective prosecution to create statistics regardless of the merit of the case? … Ans. (AUSA Donald Zerendow) confirmed.. “That’s exactly what I’m saying..sometimes the truth falls to the need to perform..” …1994 USA Today The Barbara Reynolds files
“…because I was giving a lecture for Spellman got to it, and they said, ” Was there anything I ever regretted? …And I said, yes, that I could not stop the destruction of doctors and doctors serving the poor under Medicaid. And I could see that not only were they being destroyed, but their families and doctors were going to jail for nothing. And so I wrote, and I tried my best, and finally I just packed everything up and put the boxes in my garage and said, well, I tried for ten years to get the media to pay attention. I can’t do anymore. So I put this in my garage and just said, oh well.”
THE TWO BOXES
“The destruction of Black doctors is one of the saddest stories I’ve ever reported. I saw how the government blamed all the waste, fraud, and abuse on Black doctors while turning a blind eye to the white companies ripping off the government left and right. I saw illegal drugs being deposited in Black doctors’ offices and how people were paid to go in pretending to be sick to get drugs or steal prescription pads to write medicines sold illegally.”
THE HIDDEN PURGE
THE OVERREACH OF POWER
the North Star project group
Key aspects of the research by youarearewithinthenorms and the North Star project group, led by the late Walter R. Clement, on the experience of Black medical providers include:
How does the government’s use of extrapolation lead to legalized extortion?
What is the impact of removing Black doctors from their communities?
Explain the roles of medical boards and insurance companies in targeting.
Impact on Healthcare: This targeting is framed not just as an individual injustice but as a threat that weakens the entire healthcare system. By distracting from patient care and removing qualified providers from the field, it negatively influences the quality of services available to communities in need
Systemic Targeting and “Regulatory Racism”: Black and Brown doctors are reportedly subject to “state-sponsored regulatory racism” by entities such as state medical boards, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the DEA. As early as 1988, reports uncovered how the government would blame Black doctors for waste, fraud, and abuse while overlooking similar or greater infractions by white-owned companies.
Tactics of Harassment: The sources detail aggressive tactics used against these providers, including planting illegal drugs in their offices and paying individuals to feign illness to obtain drugs or steal prescription pads.
Low Representation and Forced Attrition: African-American doctors currently make up only about 3 percent of the total physician population. The sources attribute this low number to a “constant effort by the government to stop them,” which has resulted in many doctors being jailed and their families losing their livelihoods.
Legal and Personal Consequences: The personal toll on these providers is significant. Examples cited include:
Dr. Harvey Jenkins: A Harvard-trained surgeon who was forced to plead guilty to “29 felony lies”.
Dr. Freddy Williams: A Meharry graduate who was sentenced to 30 years and died in prison in 2006.
Dr. Ndubuisi J. Okafor: A solo practitioner whose experience is highlighted as part of this ongoing struggle.
Failure of Advocacy: There is a noted frustration with the failure of Black media and prominent figures to effectively address these issues. The sources criticize certain advocates for offering “meaningless sales pitches” rather than taking substantive action to protect providers from regulatory overreach.
More specifically, Karen Hunter, who proclaims having the ear of America, “where talk becomes action,” has spoken of uncomfortable truths, but has failed in showing no action, nor ask any hard questions to any person in our group or used their ear to address the plight of Black-owned medical establishments being targeted and legally extorted.
And this is about to happen again; instead, they’re saving tax dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse while they take the funds or stash them away for bigger yachts. African-American doctors make up about 3 percent of the total because there’s a constant effort by the government to stop them. Because of this, many doctors were jailed, and their families lost their livelihoods.
WHEN THE WATCH DOG BARKS AT THE INNOCENT
Where are the people supposedly making a documentary about this?
THE STORY OF THE TARGETING OF PRONTO PHARMACY LLC, TAMPA, FL
A FEW WORDS ABOUT KAREN HUNTER.
This book is based on the research of Dr. Barbara Reynolds, which sat unreported for nearly 35 years. Yet these incidents have received barely a whisper on Ms. Hunter Health on the Wednesday Show, or the sound of the cackle from Ms. Lurie Daniel-Favors (a lawyer), who has all but ignored this crisis and left us like Jack Folson, Drs. Dralves Edwards and the late Dr. Walter F. Wrenn, MD, are left on hold for other, more important callers. But thank you, Dr. Wilmer Leon, thank you always for your voice of insight in presenting the concern articulated in this book, Legalized Extortion.
And I must say, there has been barely a whisper in the media, specifically in the black media, which have wrapped themselves around the trapping phrases, embraced themselves, and their broadcasts around black consciousness, where talk becomes action. Nubia and all the identities of self-empowerment have failed and failed miserably.
According to Jack Folson, a clinical pharmacist, this day and rights movement needs to move forward to address issues in modern life.
“Rehashing the victories of the last century is well and good, but as we move forward, there should be an identification of what still needs to change, rather than being complacent about victories achieved by entertainers and sports figures whose individual efforts have allowed them to ascend to wealth. There should be more effort paid to the rank-and-file African Americans who fight racism in their daily lives on a widespread basis. age, the civil, the minimally…
The recent Fifth Circuit decision in Neumann’s FEB 16, 2026! The Pharmacy v. Drug Enforcement Administration case is an important development in federal controlled-substance law. While it does not directly govern cases outside the Fifth Circuit, its reasoning imposes meaningful limits on the DEA’s interpretation of pharmacists’ responsibilities under the Controlled Substances Act.
“…The most pressing issue that is facing our medical professionals of color is regulatory racism, specifically where our knowledge and financial success are being ruthlessly targeted. Just like redlining, which has been attacked in the last century and has been made largely illegal because of its heinous effects, regulatory racism, which disproportionately attacks our people, threatens to undermine so many of the opportunities that have been garnered through individual education, hard work, and investment. Clearly, the narrative of work hard, get an education, is not elevating us as well as it should…
2
tulsafication
WHOLENESS IS NO TRIFLING MANNER
Yet while Ms. Hunter talking a good game speaks of “wholeness is no trifiling manner,” is quick to articulate and rightfully print out;
“The negative effects of poor access to quality education and the lack of generational wealth threaten to erase all the gains of the last century, and it seems she is fighting the wrong fight. Bread and butter issues, such as having a workplace to go to, having the ability to work unfettered with false narratives, and disproportionately affecting the people in our community, must be addressed.”
or state that I never want to be a hippocrate saying one thing but do another,,,or what you undo is manifest in her critisim of Jazz New Album being sold through target… requesting anf apology from Target questioning the how do we gain power when do we gain power …I wont every person listen to my show. or holdness in no tifiling manner
No desire to feel superior to anybody, now we are going to call her out.
However,
FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED
WHEN THE END OF A TRIAL IS THE BEGINNING OF THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH
Because of that, the decision has potential value for arguments raised by some 5,800 doctors who have been imprisoned, and over half of those doctors are Black or Brown, Asian, and Jewish. Individual cases, such as Dr. Norman J. Clement, Pharmacist dentist, Pronto Pharmacy, and Black’s own medical pharmacies, physician private practice, such as Walter F. Wrenn, MD., Neil K. Anand, MD, Stephen Henson, Barbara Marino, MD, Ob-gyn oncologist, Memphis, Tennessee, Harvey Jenkins, MD, Phd. Tulsa, Oklahoma, orthopedic surgeon, bbnnhhl]
B. The Pharmacological Trinity-1 While opioids target G-protein-coupled receptors to block pain signals, benzodiazepines enhance GABAergic inhibition to provide necessary sedation and muscle relaxation. This synergistic approach allows for lower medication doses, which effectively reduces adverse side effects while extending the duration of relief. Beyond clinical mechanics, the text uses a theological metaphor of the Holy Trinity to illustrate how these distinct agents work in dynamic communion to heal the patient. Ultimately, the goal of this integrated therapy is to restore the individual’s quality of life, enabling them to return to employment, mobility, and social connection.
TALKING A GOOD GAME
Yet Ms. Hunter has articulated that she grew up believing that words matter. Stories can break chains, shift perspectives, and spark movements. That’s why I built this show: to create a space where truth is spoken, power is challenged, and voices that are often silenced get amplified.
We hate each other because our knowledge is held in disdain by those we thought promoted our identity. For our research, neither the words nor the words matter, and the deliberate ignoring, dismissal, and blocking of these stories further chains us to wilful stupidity and flawed perspectives, creating a space for benign stupidity to proliferate, and voices that are amplifying this crisis are silenced by these acts of Hunter, Carl Nelson, Gregg Carr, Lamont King, and academic gatekeeping.
However,
As our economy is forced into decline by a MAGA-lomanic toddler president who should be protecting our country now, more than ever, access to the media is needed, and the gatekeepers should be opening the conversation rather than locking the gate. In the world of medicine alone, much needs to be addressed. Illegal and unconscionable adhesion contracts that force our healthcare operators and, by extension, healthcare workers into a quasi-state of pseudo-slavery never see the light of day. She should allow the practitioners the ability to PUSH BACK AGAINST THE NONSENSE NARRATIVE(C) [Jack Folson] by opening her platform to the people who do the work. That might be the only way she will be educated about the issues involving Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) and other monopolies at play.
Several cases have shown the DEA to be excessively racist in their dealings with law-abiding people by redefining medical practice, which disproportionately affects our people, leading to loss of livelihood, loss of life, and loss of freedom. But here’s the thing. Karen Hunter could allow experts in this arena to be featured on her show, but as far as can be seen, she seems too cowardly to give them airtime, rather than being a voice for change.
Hopefully, she will someday ascend to a higher plane of existence and put her fear aside and add her voice to those great journalists who preceded her, of whom she is a giant on whose shoulders she stands. So in the words of that great radio journalist, the Black Eagle, Joe Madison, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?” Many of us are out here testifying, court-watching, adding our voices to the court system, and shaping precedent.
Quote: “Bravery is not the absence of fear but rather having fear you do what is right anyway.” Sun Tzu
THE DECAPITATION PROCESS
Love, Black media, once the vanguard of all media, led by papers such as the Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, and Michigan Chronicle, and magazines such as Ebony, Jet, and Black Enterprise, which were staples in nearly all black households, have fallen to electronic social media. Our community deserves the real answers. The Invisible Experts: 5 Surprising Truths About the DEA’s 40-Year Struggle with Systemic Bias
A Case of Mistaken Identity
Professional excellence is no shield against the gravity of systemic bias. June Werlow Rogers spent her career in the upper echelons of federal law enforcement, eventually leading the DEA’s New England field office. Yet, during her tenure in Baltimore, her credentials were not enough to prevent a traffic stop that required a white supervisor’s intervention to resolve. Most tellingly, while standing in a court of law as a high-ranking federal agent, Rogers was confused for a defendant by the presiding magistrate judge.
This is the “Credential Paradox”: a profound chasm between a Black professional’s mastery and their institutional recognition. Beneath the polished surface of federal authority lies a scandalous culture of racial disparity.
The Credential Paradox: When “Unqualified” Leads the “Expert”
The DEA’s promotional hierarchy reveals a scandalous inversion of merit. Consider the case of Susan Langston. With a Bachelor of Science in Arts and training as a paralegal, Langston possesses no background in law enforcement, medical science, or pharmacy. Yet, she was appointed to head the DEA Miami Field Division’s Diversion Regulatory Program—overseeing medical and pharmaceutical compliance—and was subsequently promoted to DEA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
This upward mobility stands in stark contrast to the career of Walter R. Clement. Clement’s resume is a testament to over-qualification: two Master’s degrees (Business Management and Human Resource Management), over 30 years in the Detroit Police Department, a veteran of Underwater Recovery and Special Response Teams, and a long-standing Criminal Justice Instructor.
This gap is not an accident of bureaucracy; it is a structural choice. As Karl Colder, former head of the DEA’s Washington field division, bluntly stated: “This is a culture. You still don’t have African Americans in positions to really monitor and ensure things are equal.” When those with the most expertise are barred from oversight, the agency’s efficacy is sacrificed to maintain a biased status quo.
The 40-Year Stagnation: A Civil Rights Case Frozen in Time
The DEA’s internal rot is not a recent discovery; it is a documented history of legal liability. In the early 1980s, the agency was found liable for discriminating against Black agents regarding salary, promotions, and discipline. Forty years later, the needle has barely moved. By 2020, only 8% of the agency’s 4,500 special agents were Black, and a mere four out of 50 senior executives identified as Black.
The primary barrier is the “GS-13 Ceiling.” In the federal system, GS-13 is the critical pivot point where an agent transitions from performing the work to leading the agency. For Black agents, this is where the ladder ends. Despite a 1977 class-action suit and subsequent court orders to cure this systemic bias, the Federal Courts have “slow-walked” the enforcement of justice. This four-decade delay is more than a procedural lag; it is a disgraceful systemic betrayal of the agents who sought equity through the law.
Dr. Muhamad Aly Rifai’s article research and book explores the growing trend of legal systems targeting medical professionals. In this critical examination of the American legal system, Dr. Muhamad Aly Rifai argues that the government has undergone a dangerous shift toward the criminalization of physician care, transforming healers into targets of aggressive federal pursuit. The text highlights how complex medical decisions are increasingly misinterpreted as criminal intent, leading to an environment where prosecutorial overreach and a presumption of guilt devastate the lives of innocent practitioners.
By detailing the ruinous impact on both doctors and the patients they serve, the author illustrates how weaponized regulations and biased statistics force physicians into submission, regardless of their actual guilt.
THE FILTERED NEGROE PROTOCOLS
These works should have served as a call for systemic reform to protect the integrity of the medical profession and ensure that the pursuit of fraud does not inadvertently become a destructive war on healers and these wake up calls should have been led in media, black media as the vangaurd in
“as in connecting the dots, remembering who we are, and imagining who we can be. Whether it’s politics, culture, history, or health, our goal is always the same and to equip our people with knowledge, to build community, and to move us forward together.”
However, Hunter, Daniels, Carr, and Carl Nelson expose a good game and use their platforms as the electronic wave academic gatekeepers, maintain an audience in the knowledge of sports and entertainment as the pipe dream of success. While willfuly the same platform to digitally block the works of Norman Clement , dralves Edwards, Lesly pompy, et al.
Angela Green writes, “No Black Doctors for the Black Community… ” As we approach the looming healthcare crisis in America, where millions of people will lose their access to healthcare, America’s Imprisonment of the United States Department of Justice, some 5,800 doctors have been imprisoned, and over half of those doctors are Black or Brown Asian and Jewish.
First, the court clarified the scope of a pharmacist’s legal duty. Federal regulation requires that controlled substance prescriptions be issued for a legitimate medical purpose by a practitioner acting in the usual course of professional practice. The regulation also states that pharmacists share a corresponding responsibility to ensure the prescription is legitimate.
misinterpreted and misunderstood the biblical teaching and the cost of human suffering
In Ms. Green’s Book she writes:
“Many have misunderstood the biblical teaching as an order to stand still, remain ignorant, and revel in stupidity.
1). The notion that I have to do this all by myself. Hand it over to the Lord.
2). Be anxious for nothing, worry less, and pray more. Anxiety will not control you, but you will control anxiety with the constant renewing of your mind. Pray over your problems and leave it there at the altar!!!
3) You can have peace. Learn to keep your mind on Jesus, and peace will fall upon you. Peace of God will not and may not change your circumstances, but it will change how you respond to it. Don’t put your trust in people but in God. Thank God for what you have and be satisfied.
I ask When were these verses written? These proclamations make no clinical sense and lack medical science understanding, and those who claim to be close to God weaponize one’s suffering by maintaining their ignorance through the use of this great holy book to sustain their control and dominance.
Weaponizing thoughts, images, and phrases from the Bible as guidelines to remain stagnant, hoping for better, creating nothing, and using our economic tools as investments in themselves, but they do serve a purpose when properly utilized. For me, getting u to heaven ain’t one of them, going to church on Sunday isn’t either.
God granted me wisdom as knowledge in the fields on pharmacy and dentistry to utilize and carry out his mission every day, how long that may be, in every hour of every second and for every second, so my store my dental practice is my church my work is his mission and the people whom patronize my business are my parishers seeking wisdom guiddens, comfort from ravagges of disease an ailment which have forever tollled upon every species from our existence on this planted and those that lay beyond.
My church is open every day and caters to all humankind who may present themselves for help and aid in my area of expertise. And may I treat them with dignity and respect, give them the knowledge and wisdom to carry on through their end of time.
If you want to be better, you must upgrade your thinking. Whatever you feed your mind will determine your reality. Yesterday’s thinking may not be enough to get you through tomorrow. Continue to renew your mind.”
The Human Cost: From ALS to Sickle Cell
Dr. Walter Clement Noel, DDS, was born in 1884 on a sprawling estate in the rugged terrain of northern #Grenada, a British colony in the Caribbean. He hailed from a wealthy family of landholders, which afforded him access to quality education. Noel’s educational journey took him to #Harrison College in #Barbados, where he completed his undergraduate studies in the summer of 1904.
Noel’s Journey to the United States: In September 1904, Noel embarked on a life-changing journey, sailing from Barbados to New York aboard the SS Cearense. During the weeklong voyage, he developed a leg ulcer, a common complication of sickle cell disease.
Upon arrival in New York, Noel sought medical attention, and his leg wound was treated with topical iodine, leading to rapid healing. He then traveled to Chicago, where he had been accepted as a dental student at the Chicago College of Dental Surgery.
The shift from medical care to law enforcement oversight has created a “chilling effect” that treats suffering patients as “drug seekers” and their providers as “drug dealers in white coats.” This stigmatization has resulted in what the petition calls the “needless suffering and deaths” of thousands.
This struggle is personal. Norman J. Clement fought this legal battle in the shadow of his own brother’s agony. Walter R. Clement, a 34-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department, passed away in September 2022 in “horrific agonizing untreated pain” from ALS because his physicians were terrified that over-prescribing would lead to a DEA raid.
The tragedy extends to patients like Gilinda Dame-Fincher, who suffers from the excruciating pain of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). Despite SCD being explicitly exempt from the very CDC guidelines the DEA cites for enforcement, Dame-Fincher has been denied her prescribed OxyContin by pharmacies citing “red flags.” This is the reality of the DEA’s overreach: patients with terminal and chronic illnesses are being left to wither in agony while the “umpires” of law enforcement play doctor.
The DEA has often interpreted this language very broadly and has treated pharmacists as responsible for identifying and refusing prescriptions whenever the agency later claims “red flags” were present.
“…We tell the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. We ask the hard questions, because our community deserves real answers.”
The Fifth Circuit rejected that expansive interpretation. The court emphasized that a pharmacist cannot be held liable simply because the government later identifies suspicious characteristics in a prescription. The key issue is knowledge. A pharmacist must know that the prescription is not legitimate before liability can attach. Suspicion, hindsight evaluation, or disagreement with a physician’s judgment is not enough.
UNDERSTANDING RUAN/KHAN
According to the late Dr. Walter F. Wrenn, III., MD
Walter F. Wrenn, MD
” Have we come to a time in medicine when we care nothing about the welfare of patients seeking care and refusing those on controlled medications that assist them in carrying out their activities of daily living? What has fostered this attitude?
Could it be that due to the hysteria and unfounded charges, and imprisonment of physicians who prescribe opiate pain medications and have been unfairly blamed for opiate addiction and increased death?
Opiate addiction is not caused by physicians who prescribe opiate pain medications or by pharmaceutical companies that make opiate pain medications. It is caused entirely and solely by how the opiate medications work in the body. This medication attaches to opiate receptors in the brain and body and is detoxified by the liver.
“..Grounded in both lived experience and deep legal expertise, Lurie brings clarity, urgency, and compassion to some of society’s most pressing and polarizing issues..”
This process has nothing to do with the milligram (MME) dose or whether it is a short-acting or long-acting medication. It is the physiology of all opiate medications, legal or illegal. An environment has been created where proper care and treatment have been threatened.”
Second, the court addressed the phrase “usual course of professional practice.” The DEA has often used this language as a broad enforcement tool, effectively turning it into a negligence standard. Under that approach, if a pharmacist failed to investigate or question a prescription as aggressively as the DEA believes they should have, the agency could claim a violation of federal law.
The Fifth Circuit rejected that approach. The court explained that federal law does not convert ordinary professional judgment into a federal enforcement standard. The Controlled Substances Act does not authorize the DEA to transform disagreements about pharmacy practice into federal violations unless the statutory elements are satisfied. In other words, federal law cannot simply federalize state malpractice or professional discipline standards.
Third, the decision indirectly weakens the long-standing “red flag” enforcement model used by the DEA. Over many years, the agency has built enforcement cases around the concept that pharmacists must identify and resolve “red flags.” However, the statute and its implementing regulations do not define that term. The Fifth Circuit’s reasoning suggests that enforcement based primarily on undefined warning signs without proof of actual knowledge is legally vulnerable.
When examining the arguments Dr. Clement raises in his Supreme Court filing, the Neumann decision touches on several themes present in his petition. His filing repeatedly argues that pharmacies were punished for filling prescriptions written by licensed physicians even though investigators failed to show the prescriptions were illegitimate. The petition also argues that enforcement relied heavily on vague red-flag concepts rather than on statutory standards. The Fifth Circuit’s reasoning gives some support to those concerns by reinforcing the requirement that liability must be tied to clear statutory elements, not generalized suspicion.
Jesse Berman, May 3, 2022
THE RACKS
This fact is probably not much of a surprise, as it is typical for people of color to be disproportionally represented in criminal justice.
I remember this fact from the many criminal justice classes I took in undergrad and graduate school. From the school-to-prison pipeline to everything in between, Blacks are over-represented. Black doctors make up less than five percent of the medical community, yet some 54% of Black doctors have been imprisoned or are on a path of imprisonment through government targeting… This is alarming for many reasons.
How many of us knew fellow students who were exceptional in school, clearly destined to be any kind of doctor they hoped to be, because they had what it took?
After all, most people who choose medicine as a profession welcome the academic rigor because, somewhere deep down, they want to help people and use their knowledge and skills to make them feel better. Almost all of the doctors I interviewed said they wanted to become doctors to The United States government began attacking Black doctors and other doctors of color around the early to mid-1980s with false Medicare Fraud charges, which basically equated to shakedowns. Since then, those attacks have expanded into other areas, using more sophisticated tools such as artificial intelligence (AI). Presently, Black doctors and other doctors of color are targeted for Medicaid Fraud (Healthcare Fraud), Overprescribing, and Sham Peer Reviews.
WHEN JUSTICE FORGOT US LURIE DANIELS FAVOR TALKING A GOOD GAME
Lurie Daniel Favors – a nationally recognized racial justice attorney, advocate, author, nonprofit leader, and dynamic public voice – the show is a live call-in space that fearlessly examines the complex intersections of race, gender, culture, identity, politics, and the law. Grounded in both lived experience and deep legal expertise, Lurie brings clarity, urgency, and compassion to some of society’s most pressing and polarizing issues.
Yet, while talking a good game, Attorney Lurie Daniel-Favors has used her platform to avoid discussion and mute these racial disparities. She notably failed to interview Dr. Walter F. Wrenn, MD, or Dr. Dralves Edwards, DO, or to address how the War on Drugs has historically criminalized drug use among people of color while adopting a medicalized approach for others. Dr. Walter F. Wrenn, MD, identified that opioid addiction is not caused by physicians who prescribe opioid pain medications or by pharmaceutical companies themselves.
It is caused entirely and solely by how the opiate medications work in the body. These medications attach to opiate receptors in the brain and body and are detoxified by the liver. The Statistical Reality of Targeting. The systemic campaign to prosecute and dismantle the careers of minority healthcare providers is backed by stark statistics. Of the approximately 5,800 doctors imprisoned in the United States, over half are Black or Brown. While Black doctors make up less than five percent of the medical community, roughly 54 percent of them have been imprisoned or are on a path toward imprisonment due to government targeting.
JAKIE REID’S EMMY AWARD-WINNING CROWN OF JOURNALISTIC STUPIDITY IS A DISGRACE TO THE NABJ
The Regulatory Trap and the “Medicaid Bullseye”
According to former Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) director Donald Zerendow, the government’s shift to criminalizing minor clerical errors was highly racialized. Black doctors disproportionately see poor, elderly, and underserved Medicaid patients, placing them directly in the “bullseye” for government investigations. Zerendow explained that investigators stereotypically assumed minority doctors’ files and records would not be well-maintained.
If an office’s records were not pristine, investigators easily charged them with “regulatory non-compliance” to initiate multi-million-dollar extortion schemes. Furthermore, defense attorney Ronald Chapman Jr. submitted that physicians of color are often targeted because cultural differences in practice lead them to prioritize patient interaction over documentation, making them easier targets for auditors
THE DUAL CRISIS OF INEQUITY IN PAIN MEDICINE
In the book Race Matters, Attorney Jackson Dunbar examines the racial disparities that define modern healthcare and analgesic treatment. Through the lens of his own recovery from a traumatic car accident, Dunbar illustrates how minority patients are often undermedicated for severe pain, while white communities have faced overprescription.
Supplemental data confirms these inequities, noting that Black and Hispanic patients with terminal illnesses often receive inadequate pain management due to physician bias and systemic barriers. The text highlights how the War on Drugs has historically criminalized drug use among people of color while adopting a medicalized approach for others.
THE FIGHT FOR PAIN RELIEF: A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE
First, the Medicaid Fraud attacks began when Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCU) would visit Black doctors’ offices and look for “regulatory non-compliance.” These investigators could deem anything they wanted to be negligence, which was all they needed for a regulatory non-compliance charge. Once the charge was made, the fix is in.
This established protocol has become the playbook for all future attacks against doctors, even today. Today, something as simple as a clerical error or the use of an incorrect Medicaid code can get a doctor indicted, imprisoned, and have all of his assets seized in sometimes dramatic after-hours raids in a civil asset forfeiture case. This ultimately leaves the doctor broken, penniless, and out of practice.
SYSTEMATICALLY TARGETED BLACK-OWN PHARMACIES
GRAND RISING OF THE DIGITAL HALF NELSON
The half nelson is referred to by most coaches as being the easiest pinning hold in folkstyle wrestling, and is very commonly used. The half nelson is done using only one hand, by passing it under the arm of the opponent and locking the hand on the opponent’s neck. In addition, the hand not being used should be holding the opponent’s other wrist so that they cannot post the hand or peel the half nelson off.
Equally as bad are the attacks on pain doctors who prescribe opioids to treat their pain patients, like those with sickle cell anemia, sarcoidosis, or other painful conditions. These doctors have been labeled as “Drug Dealers in White Coats” by the DEA. They have been falsely accused of causing the opioid crisis, which many doctors argue is also false.
opioids: Exposing America’s Giant Frame-Up Job of 30 years oF dea INCOMPETENCE AND THE DEAN OBEDALLAH-FUGLESANG FAILURES TO REPORT
CRIMINALIZATION OF PAIN CARE
THE CLOWN CARRS
Many of these doctors are charged with overprescribing pain medicine by the DEA, which now obviously also practices medicine. The benefit of erroneously charging for doctors who treat Medicaid patients and those who treat pain patients is the extrapolated amounts of money the government calculates to recover from these targeted doctors. Most doctors are targeted based on their race, age, financial status, and whether they have an independent practice.
Next, Black doctors are prime targets for Sham Peer Reviews by their white counterparts. The sham peer review undermines legitimate peer review and is intended to protect patients from incompetent doctors and hospitals that put them in imminent danger. The sham peer reviews are often directed at high-achieving, well-educated doctors in elevated positions within a hospital. These doctors can easily overshadow their white counterparts, which leaves them feeling plain old jealous. The sham peer review is fueled by jealousy and resentment, and it can be initiated by any member of the medical staff.
LEFT ON HOLD
Once the review process begins, it is over for the doctor because the goal is to eliminate the doctor from practice. This is a dangerous and costly attack because peer reviews result in doctors being reported to the National Practitioner’s Data Bank (NPDB); once a doctor is reported to the NPDB, their career in medicine is over, permanently! Imagine that!
Finally, the attacks on Black doctors and other doctors of color for Medicaid Fraud (Healthcare Fraud), Overprescribing, and Sham Peer Reviews is disturbing news for our community, especially coupled with the inaccessibility of healthcare insurance.
It is troubling to know that medical school students and young Black doctors are now forced to practice medicine with their dukes up because the hits can come at any time. Doctors who treat pain patients must practice strict record-keeping because they might need it when they are accused of being a drug dealer in a white coat. And our gifted Black doctors, who naturally excel in everything they do, must be careful not to outshine their lackluster counterparts to avoid the initiation of a sham peer review.
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REFERENCES
***NOTES
Summary
Briefing Document: The Criminalization of Physician Care
Source: Excerpts from “The Criminalization of Physician Care” by Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD, published in KevinMD and republished in YOUAREWITIHINTHENORMS.
Date of Publication: March 31, 2025 (original KevinMD publication)
Author: Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD, practicing internist and psychiatrist
Subject: The increasing criminalization of physicians in the United States and its consequences.
Key Themes and Arguments:
This article presents a strong argument that the legal and regulatory system in the United States has shifted from supporting physicians as healers to actively pursuing them as criminals, often with insufficient justification. The author highlights several key themes:
- Transformation of Healers into “Hunted”: The core argument is that physicians, historically trusted pillars of society, are now being targeted and treated with the same zeal as serious criminals. Rifai states, “Physicians are healers; they were not meant to be hunted.” He argues that regulations and laws are being “weaponized” against them.
- Weaponization of Regulations and Laws: The author points to specific legal frameworks like the Controlled Substances Act and health care fraud statutes as tools used to ensnare physicians. He argues that these are applied in ways that conflate medical judgment and complex patient care with criminal intent.
- Prosecutorial Overreach and Zealous Prosecution: A central theme is the aggressive and often unwarranted pursuit of physicians by federal prosecutors. Rifai criticizes the “zeal more fitting of criminal kingpins” and the use of “aggressive federal tactics.” He highlights instances where prosecutors have used inflammatory language and potentially manipulated data.
- Conflation of Medical Judgment with Criminal Activity: The author emphasizes that complex medical decisions, such as pain management or prescribing patterns, are being misconstrued as criminal acts. He states, “legal systems conflate medical judgment with criminal activity” and “When prosecutors substitute clinical discretion with courtroom assumptions, it is not just the physician who suffers; patients are left without care.”
- Cases Illustrating the Problem: Rifai uses the cases of Dr. Thomas Sachy, Dr. Loey Kousa, and Dr. Neil Anand to illustrate the practical consequences of this trend. These examples show how physicians have faced severe charges, endured lengthy legal battles and incarceration (in Dr. Sachy’s case), and suffered significant reputational and financial harm, even when ultimately acquitted.
- Impact of Presumption of Guilt: The author argues that the actions of federal authorities, including press releases and courtroom rhetoric, create a presumption of guilt that undermines the fundamental principle of innocence until proven guilty. He highlights the disturbing pattern of conduct by federal prosecutors and the use of prejudicial language like “dirty doctors.”
- Statistics Stacked Against Physicians: Rifai notes the low percentage of federal defendants found not guilty (0.4%), suggesting that the system is inherently biased against those who fight the charges. He also points out that many physicians plea out due to the overwhelming risk of trial, not necessarily because of guilt.
- Devastating Consequences for Physicians and Patients: The article stresses the “wreckage” left by unjust prosecutions, including “ruined reputations, shuttered practices, and patients left stranded.” He argues that the system fails to account for the complexities of patient populations and the challenges of healthcare documentation.
- Call for Reform: Rifai advocates for systemic reform to address the issues raised. His proposed solutions include:
- Clearer guidelines for billing and prescribing.
- Accountability for prosecutors who misuse their power.
- Reform of DEA administrative processes to ensure due process.
- Equal application of the presumption of innocence.
- “War on Health Care Fraud” Becoming “War on Healers”: The author concludes by reframing the government’s efforts as a detrimental shift that harms the healthcare system as a whole. He argues that criminalizing compassion and targeting physicians for systemic dysfunction ultimately destroys care.
Most Important Ideas/Facts:
- The shift from revered healers to targeted individuals is a significant and concerning trend.
- Legal frameworks are being used in a punitive manner that misinterprets medical practice.
- Specific cases (Sachy, Kousa, Anand) demonstrate the severe and often unjust consequences for physicians.
- Prosecutorial conduct and rhetoric contribute to a climate of presumed guilt.
- The statistics of federal prosecutions indicate a system heavily weighted against defendants.
- The impact extends beyond individual physicians, negatively affecting patient access to care and the overall healthcare system.
- Systemic reform is necessary to restore fairness and prevent the “criminalization of care.”
Quotes from Original Source:
- “Physicians are healers; they were not meant to be hunted.”
- “weaponizing regulations and laws into weapons and transforming healers into criminals.”
- “branded them as fraudsters when their only crime was dedication to their patients.”
- “white coats are being exchanged for prison uniforms, as prosecutors pursue doctors with a zeal more fitting of criminal kingpins than health care providers.”
- “His ordeal underscores the peril physicians face when legal systems conflate medical judgment with criminal activity.”
- “When prosecutors substitute clinical discretion with courtroom assumptions, it is not just the physician who suffers; patients are left without care.”
- “The case, built on flimsy evidence and flawed audits, was emblematic of how prosecutorial overreach has become normalized in the name of compliance.”
- “Court records detail a disturbing pattern of conduct by federal prosecutors…”
- “…smeared in a press release by U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero as one of the “dirty doctors who poisoned our communities.” The irony? I was found not guilty on all charges.”
- “This kind of prosecutorial zealotry reflects a fundamental erosion of the presumption of innocence.”
- “Such rhetoric is not just inappropriate; it is dangerous.”
- “According to Pew Research, only 0.4 percent of federal defendants are found not guilty.”
- “Most plea out, not because they are guilty, but because the risk of fighting back is too great.”
- “racial and ethnic bias cannot be ignored, as physicians are denied the standard presumption of innocence in DOJ press releases.”
- “Every unjust prosecution leaves a trail of wreckage: ruined reputations, shuttered practices, and patients left stranded.”
- “Justice is not served by targeting physicians who are doing their best in a broken system.”
- “We need reform, not retribution.”
- “The war on health care fraud has too often become a war on healers.”
- “Because when we criminalize compassion, we do not just destroy careers—we destroy care itself.”
