Suburban Pittsburgh Doctor Indicted For Allegedly Peddling Opioids

PITTSBURGH, PA - A federal grand jury has indicted a Pittsburgh-area physician on charges of conspiracy and unlawfully distributing controlled substances. Andrzej Kazimierz Zielke, 62, the owner of Medical Frontiers in Gibsonia, is the first person indicted since the formation of the Justice Department’s Opioid and Abuse Detection Unit targeting individuals contributing to the nation’s opioid crisis.

The 14-count indictment alleges that on 13 occasions Zielke illegally prescribed Schedule II narcotics such as ocycodone, hydrocodone, morphine sulfate and methadone. Zielke “engaged in a pattern of illegally prescribing opioid painkillers to patients with no legitimate medical purpose and without examination, evaluation or testing,” the indictment stated.

The Justice Department announced the indictment as President Donald Trump declared a nationwide health emergency to combat the opioid crisis.

“Today, as President Trump unveils his plan to fight the opioid epidemic, we have filed the first charges by these (Opioid and Abuse Detection Unit) prosecutors,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “ We will file many more charges in the months to come, because the Department of Justice will be relentless in hunting down drug dealers and turning the tide of this epidemic.”

According to the criminal complaint, federal agents began investigating Zielke after being tipped that he was writing many oxycodone prescription for McKeesport residents and a narcotics dealer was obtaining some of the pills.

The complaint stated that former employees and patients told authorities Zielke charged about $250 cash for office visits and patients often traveled long distances to see him.

Earlier this month before the indictment was handed down, the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine temporarily suspended Zielke’s medical license.

If convicted, he would face a maximum total sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $1 million, or both for each count of the indictment.

Medical Frontiers, which bills itself as a holistic pain management practice, is located in the Richland Mall on Route 8. Its website was inaccessible Thursday, but its phones were still working; a message left for Zielke was not immediately returned.

Medical Frontiers' Facebook page remains active and is dominated by reviews of the practice from nearly two dozen patients. All of them gave it a five-star rating.

Agencies that participated in the investigation include the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Inspection Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation.