(CHICAGO) A west suburban doctor fraudulently issued a patient more than 500 prescriptions for Oxycodone and Adderall pills, and the patient in turn schemed to distribute the drugs for about three years in the Chicago area, according to a 25-count federal indictment unsealed Thursday.
From roughly January 2010 to July 2013, Dr. William Mikaitis prescribed the pills to his patient, David Stelmachowski, without proper medical tests or physical examinations, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Stelmachowski filled the prescriptions at 80 different pharmacies in and around Chicago, in an effort to avoid attracting attention to the large number of prescriptions and pills, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors allege Stelmachowski obtained about 37,000 pills or tablets of Oxycodone and Adderall.
Mikaitis and Stelmachowski are both charged with conspiring to distribute misbranded prescription drugs and conspiring to acquire controlled substances by fraud and deception, prosecutors said. The two counts are punishable by up to nine years in prison.
Mikaitis, 72, of Burr Ridge, also faces 15 individual counts of distributing a controlled substance outside the scope of professional practice, prosecutors said. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Stelmachowskim 38, of River Forest, is also individually charged with eight counts of possessing Oxycodone with the intent to distribute, each carrying a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Mikaitis pleaded not guilty Wednesday during an arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim. Stelmachowski is scheduled to be arraigned at a later date to be set by the court.
