Tampa Doctor and Three Others Charged with Illegally Distributing and Dispensing Prescription Pain Pills

TAMPA, FL—United States Attorney A. Brian Albritton announced today the indictment and arrest of four individuals, each charged with conspiring illegally to distribute and dispense Oxycodone, Morphine, Hydrocodone, and Alprazolam, and 12 counts of distributing and dispensing controlled substances without a valid medical purpose and outside the course of professional practice. Those charged are: Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander (age 50, of Palmetto), Physician’s Assistant Troy Wubbena (age 43, of Tampa), Emergency Medical Technician Carl Ehresman (age 42, of St. Petersburg), and Sarah Ehresman (age 43, of St. Petersburg). Each defendant each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. All four defendants were arrested this morning and will have their initial appearances in federal court this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Thomas G. Wilson.

According to the indictment, the defendants operated “Neurology & Pain Center Clinics” located at the following locations: 8451 Shade Avenue, Suite 108, Sarasota, Florida; 9301 West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa, Florida; 10033 West Hillsborough Avenue, Tampa, Florida; 1810 Lakeland Hills, Lakeland, Florida; 823 East Colonial Drive, Orlando, Florida; 1525 East Amelia Street, Orlando, Florida; 1680 Dunn Avenue, Unit #34,
Jacksonville, Florida, and 500 Park Street North, St. Petersburg.

According to the indictment, it was part of the conspiracy that the defendants
distributed and dispensed drugs:

1. without adequate verification of the patient’s identity or medical complaint;
2. without adequate and reliable patient medical history;
3. without performance of a complete or adequate mental or physical examination;
4. without establishment of a true diagnosis;
5. without the use of appropriate diagnostic or laboratory testing;
6. without sufficient dialogue with the patient regarding treatment options and risks and benefits of such treatments;
7. without establishment of a treatment plan;
8. without consideration of, or discussion with the patient, regarding, alternatives to treatment other than narcotics;
9. without referral of patients to specialists in an effort to identify and correct the cause of pain;
10. without any assessment of risk of abuse for individual patients;
11. without provision of a means to follow up with the patient or to monitor the patient’s response to the medication or compliance with medical usage; and
12. without maintaining true, accurate, and complete medical records that justified the course of treatment for each patient, including but not limited to medical history, physical examination results, diagnostic therapeutic and laboratory results, evaluations and consultations, treatment plans and objectives, discussions of risks and benefits, records of all medications prescribed, dispensed, or administered, instructions and agreements, and periodic reviews.

This case was investigated by the United States Department of Health & Human Service’s Office of Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Department of Health, the Florida Office of the Attorney General Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Florida Division of Fraud, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kathy J.M. Peluso.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of the federal criminal laws, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until proven guilty.

NOTE: In connection with the arrest and indictment of the defendants in this case, patient files from the various locations of the Neurology & Pain Center clinics are currently in the custody of the United States Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Patients can contact HHS OIG at (727) 449-1133; and the FDLE at (813) 878-7300, for information and instructions on how to obtain a copy of their medical records that were maintained at the Neurology & Pain Center clinics.