St. Clair Shores Doctor Gets Prison Time After Patient Overdoses, Dies

ST. CLAIR SHORES, MI — A St. Clair Shores doctor will spend the next 20 years in prison after illegally prescribing opioids to multiple patients who overdosed and died, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Bernard Shelton, 67, was found guilty of 21 charges related to unlawful distribution of prescription drugs. He has not been allowed to prescribe drugs since 2017.

Shelton prescribed opioids to a 54-year-old patient who was previously treated with prescription-strength Motrin in 2010, according to federal officials.

Shelton then began prescribing the patient with stronger drugs, leading to the patient to becoming addicted, according to federal officials.

By 2016, he increased the dosage of oxycodone without a medical reason and the patient overdosed but survived, according to federal officials.

The patient overdosed again four days later, but died this time, according to federal officials.

Federal officials also said Shelton contributed to the overdose deaths of two other patients.

Investigators determined that Shelton operated a pill mill between April 2013 and December 2016. During that timeframe, Shelton prescribed 2.7 million doses of controlled substances, according to federal officials.

When an undercover patient visited Shelton and complained about back stiffness, Shelton did not examine the patient’s back, but instead asked, "What can I give you today" before prescribing the requested narcotics, according to federal officials.

Shelton issued 21 prescriptions to seven different patients outside the usual course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose so he could charge for office visits and tests, according to federal officials.

Shelton received over $1.4 million from Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan during the same time period, according to federal officials.

"This defendant violated his oath to do no harm to his patients. He prescribed drugs without any medical justification in order to line his own pockets," U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said. "His actions caused the death of at least one person and contributed to the deaths of two others. This sentence won't bring back those patients who he harmed but should serve as a warning to others of our resolve to aggressively prosecute physicians who choose to act as drug dealers and cause the death of patients."