DEA aims to save lives through opioid crime investigations

have the potential for harm as well as good,” Carreno said. “When they are abused, or when a physician over prescribes them or doesn’t do an exam of the patient, that creates a serious potential for harm to the patient. That’s the kind of thing that’s important for us to safeguard.”

She believes it’s vital for the DEA to continue to explore every case of potential malpractice to keep patients safe and make sure offending doctors never get to see patients again. “If you start dispensing these things without knowing anything about the patient you can kill them,” she added. “In too many cases there are doctors who are prescribing to patients who are already addicted. That’s where we will hear from families who say ‘please look into this doctor, we’re scared to death they’re going to kill our kid.’”

“It’s very important to get those doctors away from patients for the sake of protecting them. It’s part of the reason we’re here. In the criminal cases especially it’s hugely important,” Carreno concluded.

Dave Lambert
Author: Dave Lambert

Dave Lambert is a reporter at Addiction Now. British born and raised, he recently moved to SoCal to marry his now-wife. In England Dave worked as a journalist for daily and weekly newspapers covering everything from crime to medical miracles while freelancing for ice hockey publications. He is a sports fanatic and movie buff. Contact Dave at davel@addictionnow.com

Summary
Article Name
DEA aims to save lives through opioid crime investigations
Description
DEA agents have seen major success in targeting “egregious” doctors who have put patients at risk with opioid prescribing crimes.
Author
Dave Lambert
Publisher Name
Addiction Now