Dennis RomeroA West Hollywood doctor served as a one-stop shop for both hydrocodone (a.k.a. OxyContin) prescriptions and medical marijuana recommendations.
So say federal prosecutors who today announced that James Eisenberg was indicted on suspicion of distributing hydrocodone and writing prescriptions in defiance of a DEA order:
The 72-year-old faces “four counts of using a revoked DEA registration number and three counts of distribution of hydrocodone,” according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in L.A.
The suspect was brazen, authorities say, writing 1,200 hydrocodone, [added]oxycodone (a.k.a. OxyContin) and Xanax prescriptions after the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency revoked his registration in December of 2011. (It was permanently revoked in July).
At the time the DEA called the Venice resident just a “drug dealer.”
Credit: DEA
But, working out of WeHo storefronts, the doc carried on less than two weeks after the initial revocation, ultimately writing 1,700 total prescriptions, prosecutors said.
Some of the action was observed by federal agents who put Eisenberg under surveillance, according to authorities.
Earlier this year an undercover agent went to one of Eisenberg's offices and obtained not only hydrocodone and alprazolam prescriptions but was also asked if he needed medical cannabis, the U.S. Attorney's Office says.
The doctor would write the hydrocodone prescriptions for $150 cash, prosecutors said.
If convicted he faces a maximum of 46 years behind bars.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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