Ohio Doctor Accused Of Peddling Pain Pills, Including Fentanyl

CLEVELAND — A doctor from Mansfield has been accused of illegally distributing thousands of painkillers and controlled substances and giving them to another man who sold the drugs, the Department of Justice announced this week.

“The healthcare profession is a critical ally in our nation’s fight against the opioid epidemic,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. “Where we see departures from responsible care that leads to addiction, abuse, and diversion, we will use every enforcement tool available to us, including like in this case, criminal prosecution.”

Gary Frantz, 67, and Christopher Fulk, 42, both from Mansfield, were charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of oxycodone and hydrocodone and other charges. The men are also accused of distributing fentanyl, a key substance driving overdose deaths in the opioid epidemic.

Frantz was a doctor with medical offices in Mansfield. For more than a decade, he distributed thousands of doses of oxycodone, hydrocodone, methadone, fentanyl and other substances from his practice, according to court documents filed by the Department of Justice.

The doctor would distribute the drugs to customers, who he called "patients," outside the course of professional medical practice, the DOJ said. He would distribute multiple prescriptions for large quantities of oxycodone pills, including 80 mg and 30 mg pills, as well as prescriptions for fentanyl, the indictment said.

Between 2008 and 2018, Fulk received thousands of oxycodone pills from Frantz, the indictment said. Over the course of a decade, Fulk received regular prescriptions for 60 oxycodone pills, 10 methadone pills, and other drugs, like fentanyl patches, the indictment said.

Fulk sold thousands of oxycodone pills and hundreds of fentanyl patches to customers in the Mansfield area, the indictment said.

“Medical professionals, especially doctors, serve a vital function in preventing the illegal diversion of opioid medication,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Keith Martin, Detroit Division. “This indictment, and others like it around the country, demonstrate our commitment to prosecuting licensed professionals who flood communities with addictive legal drugs for their own personal benefit.”

The investigation into Frantz was led by the DEA, METRICH Drug Task Force and the Mansfield Police Department.

In 2016, Ohio was called the "face" of the nation's opioid epidemic. Officials have attributed the steady spike in overdose deaths to increased use of fentanyl.

Fentanyl was involved with 71 percent of unintentional overdose deaths in 2017, that's up from 58 percent in 2016 and 38 percent in 2015. Many of the state's overdose deaths involving cocaine or meth, also involved fentanyl.

"While data shows us that Ohio's efforts to curb prescription opioid abuse are working, the driving force today in Ohio's ever-changing opioid epidemic is deadly fentanyl being used with other street drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine," said Ohio Department of Health Director Lance Himes.