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A doctor of osteopathic medicine from Middletown Township’s Levittown section has agreed to pay a significant sum to resolve allegations he violated the Controlled Substances Act, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
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Dr. Kenneth Fox, whose office is on Frosty Hollow Road, has agreed to pay $489,025 to resolve the allegations.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigated Fox’s practice and alleged the office failed to keep “complete and accurate records of controlled substances, failing to keep required receipt and dispensing records, failing to perform biennial inventories, and writing prescriptions ‘for stock,’” federal authorities said.
The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jacqueline Romero said Fox entered into a three-year memorandum of agreement with the DEA to add new responsibilities on the handling of controlled substances. The agreement also adds “compliance obligations significantly more stringent than those in the applicable laws and regulations.”
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Below is information released by the U.S. Department of Justice:
Fox prescribes and administers phentermine, a Schedule IV controlled substance, and suboxone, a Schedule III controlled substance. In February 2013, DEA Investigators discovered that Fox allegedly failed to conduct a biennial inventory, failed to maintain records for receipt and dispensing of controlled substances, and failed to keep controlled substances secure – all in violation of applicable regulations and statutes. In April 2013, the DEA issued a Letter of Admonition to Fox, who agreed to correct his conduct thenceforth.
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Nine years later, the DEA performed another scheduled on-site inspection of Fox’s facility. During this inspection, Investigators discovered that Fox continued the same violations as before, and in addition, was prescribing controlled substances “for stock” in violation of the applicable regulations. On the date of inspection, Fox allegedly produced non-compliant and incomplete dispensing records, and no records of biennial inventory, or invoices/receipts for controlled substances. The Investigators obtained records of Fox’s prescriptions “for stock” from a local retail pharmacy. Physicians are prohibited from obtaining controlled substances for the purpose of general dispensing to patients; they must comply with the requirements for a valid prescription, including the date, patient’s name and address, drug name and strength, dosage form, quantity prescribed, directions for use, and the physician/registrant’s name, address, and registration number. The prescription requirement is one of the ways in which controlled substances are tracked to prevent diversion and abuse.
LevittownNow.com reached out to Fox to see if he wished to speak on the allegations and settlement, but an office staffer said he did not wish to comment.
Romero said her office is committed to making sure the Controlled Substances Act is followed and will enforce violations.
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“Physicians who fail to maintain proper records of controlled substances create conditions ripe for diversion, or, at worst, may be engaging in diversion itself,” she said.
The special agent in charge of the DEA’s Philadelphia field division said the system the doctor is accused of not keeping proper records for is important to making sure there is accountability for controlled substances.
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“In ordering controlled substances ‘for stock’ at his office, Dr. Fox made himself a middle-man in this same closed system and created an environment where controlled substances are not properly inventoried or secured,” DEA Special Agent in Charge Thomas Hodnett said.
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