Federal agents are investigating a Maryland doctor whose medical license was suspended after an investigation found that he had frequently prescribed high dosages of Oxycontin. Dr. Nicola Tauraso of Frederick told The Washington Examiner that law enforcement officials have ruined his good name and were wasting millions of dollars in their investigation.
“They took my reputation away, the bastards. The DEA can go to hell,” Tauraso said. “I did good for my patients.”
Tauraso said Friday that he has left the United States, but refused to say where he is. Federal and state authorities have said that Tauraso went to Panama.
“I want to be left alone. Just leave me alone,” Tauraso said.
Tauraso, 76, was a well-known Frederick doctor, author and restaurateur who opened a clinic in a renovated barn on a 13.6-acre farm, where he mixed traditional medicine with natural, holistic treatments.
According to an affidavit signed by Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent David Shields and made public last week, law enforcement authorities began investigating Tauraso in December 2009 after they received a complaint that he was prescribing unreasonably large amounts of prescription medication for other than medical purposes.
Investigators discovered that at least six area pharmacists refused to fill Tauraso prescriptions, including one pharmacist who said that one patient was prescribed 480 pills of very high dosages of Oxycontin and oxycodone. The pharmacist called the doctor’s office and learned that the prescriptions were not for medical purposes, court documents said.
Investigators said at least eight of Tauraso’s patients were involved in robberies, overdoses, a stabbing and reports of patients selling the narcotics.
Investigators said Tauraso’s receptions said the doctor saw between 20 and 60 patients a day and that he charged $250 for an office visit.
Tauraso said he was the one who called law enforcement officials about individuals selling the drugs, but they weren’t interested in getting the small dealers because they wanted to go after “a big doctor.”
In September, the Maryland Board of Physicians suspended Tauraso’s medical license. Two months later, Tauraso’s farmhouse medical clinic was destroyed in a Thanksgiving Day blaze, and state fire marshals said they found accelerants around several spots at the scene of the fire.
Last month, investigators learned that medical records for more than 1,000 patients had been stored on a property adjacent to Tauraso’s clinic. Investigators obtained a search warrant and found 23 boxes of patient records and bank statements, court documents said.
