State Yanks Clinton Township Doctor's License For Over-Prescribing Narcotics

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MI — A doctor who practiced at multiple clinics in Clinton Township and Warren has lost his medical license after he prescribed more prescription painkillers during a three-month period last year than anyone else in Michigan, state regulators said.

The state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said in a news release Friday that it had suspended Dr. Reese James’ license to practice osteopathic medicine after an investigation showed he over-prescribed narcotics often used in illegal drug trade, including carisoprodol, hydrocodone, oxycodone and oxymorphone.

During the third quarter of 2016, James led the state in the prescription of carisoprodol (350 mg), oxycodone (30 mg) and oxymorphone (40 mg), and in the three months prior, he wrote an average of 87 narcotics prescriptions each day, the release said.

In January 2016, LARA and the state attorney general’s office began a collaborative effort to identify, investigate and seek stronger sanctions against physicians who over-prescribe controlled substances, one of the key recommendations of the Michigan Prescription Drug and Opioid Task created by Gov. Rick Snyder.

In August 2016, LARA created a permanent Drug Monitoring Section to work closely with the attorney general’s office and health professional boards to stem the prescription drug abuse epidemic in Michigan.

Photo by Ano Lobb via Flickr Commons