An Atlanta physician and a Houston clinic owner have been sentenced for their roles in a pill mill scheme.
Jonathan Rosenfield, MD, owned, operated and worked as a physician at the two Sunnyside Medical clinics doing business as Sunnyside Wellness, while Elmer Taylor co-owned and co-operated the clinics, according to a Nov. 16 news release from the Department of Justice.
According to court documents, Dr. Rosenfield, Mr. Taylor and their co-conspirators issued prescriptions for opioids under Dr. Rosenfield’s name outside the usual course of professional practice, which were then often issued to individuals paid by drug dealers to pose as patients before being diverted to the illegal market.
Between May 2018 and August 2019, the scheme involved approximately 752,000 pills of oxycodone and 419,000 pills of hydrocodone and grossed approximately $5,478,000 for Sunnyside Wellness from the sale of these prescription drugs.
Dr. Rosenfield was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the scheme, while Mr. Taylor was sentenced to 12 years.