Burlington County Pharmacist Found Guilty Of Prescribing Painkillers To Addicts: Authorities

A Burlington County has been convicted of illegally distributing and dispensing oxycodone out of two pharmacies in Medford, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced Tuesday evening.

Michael Ludwikowski, 45, of Medford, was convicted of six counts in an indictment charging him with illegally distributing and dispensing oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, and maintaining a drug-involved premises. He was convicted following a five-week trial before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden federal court. The jury deliberated for three days before returning the guilty verdict.

David Goldfield, 58, of Medford Lakes, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute and dispense oxycodone and other Schedule II controlled substances, and multiple substantive counts of illegal distribution and dispensing of oxycodone in the same case. Goldfield pleaded guilty in December, one month after he and Ludwikowski were charged in a 16-count indictment.

Also pleading guilty were Dontees Jones, Matthew Lawson, and Patrick Clark, all long-term customers of Ludwikowski, and Krystal Wood, a former employee of Olde Medford Pharmacy, one of two pharmacies owned by Ludwikowski. Goldfield was also an employee at Olde Medford Pharmacy. Ludwikowksi also owned Medford Family Pharmacy, according to documents filed in the case and statements made in court.

From March 2008 through August 2013, Ludwiowski and Goldfield knowingly distributed and dispensed oxycodone and other controlled substances to people, including addicts, who presented phony prescriptions, authorities alleged.

Ludwikowski ordered tens of thousands of dosage units of oxycodone, among other products, from a large national distributor, which establishes thresholds for the quantity of controlled substances that it supplied to certain pharmacies, according to authorities.

These thresholds can only be exceeded if a pharmacy is able to sufficiently prove it needs an increase.
Ludwikowski fraudulently requested and received increases to the thresholds of oxycodone supplied to his pharmacies, even though he knew they were not going to be used for legitimate medical reasons, authorities said.

In some instances, authorities say the customers presented fraudulent prescriptions that had been blatantly “washed,” or “bleached,” through a chemical process that removed the original writing for a non-narcotic substance. The customers would then write-in their own desired prescriptions.

Ludwikowski and Goldfield even ignored concerns raised by an employee who pointed out an obviously altered prescription, according to authorities. Customers who used the fraudulent prescriptions generally paid in cash and provided gifts to Ludwikowski and Goldfield. In some instances, these customers filled fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone multiple times a week, authorities said.

Ludwikowski and an unnamed pharmacist who worked for him are also accused of reaching an agreement with an unidentified doctor to send that doctor’s patients to Ludwikowski’s pharmacies. In a text message from the pharmacist to Ludwikowski on Jan. 11, 2013, authorities say the pharmacist wrote: “I talked to [Doctor 1] and he is going to direct all of his patients to us he is the pain doc in Cherry Hill.”

After that, Ludwikowski received a voicemail from an unnamed patient who was “looking for a monthly supplier,” authorities said. Ludwikowski then forwarded his number to the pharmacist, and the patient was able to fill prescriptions for oxycodone and other controlled substances at Olde Medford Pharmacy or Medford Family Pharmacy.

In another incident, a patient from Pennsylvania told Ludwikowski that he was “in a bit of a pickle” because he had been unable to fill a prescription written by the aforementioned doctor in Pennsylvania, but had heard that Ludwikowski would be able to help. Soon after, that patient was able to acquire oxycodone and other controlled substance prescriptions from Ludwikowski’s pharmacies, according to authorities.

Each of the five substantive counts of illegal distribution of oxycodone carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The count of maintaining a drug-involved premises carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.

Fitzpatrick credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gallagher; the DEA New Jersey Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Kotowski; the Medford Police Department under the direction of Chief Richard J. Meder; the Moorestown Police Department under the direction of Chief Lee R. Lieber; the Florence Police Department under the direction of Chief John Bunce; 3 and the Lumberton Police Department under the direction of Chief Tony Diloreto, with the investigation leading to today’s conviction.

Patch file photo