Local Doctor, Assistant Charged With Taking $$$ for Narcotics Prescriptions
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The US attorney in our region has charged a doctor and his receptionist with running a "pill mill" in his offices in Philadelphia and Levittown, Pa.
William O'Brien III, 49, a doctor of osteopathic medicine and his receptionist, 29-year-old Angela Rongione, have been charged in connection with illegally distributing Oxycodone and Xanax over the course of last year.
"O'Brien would write these prescriptions for these dangerous and addictive drugs without any medical evaluation whatsoever or counsel or examination," says Mary Beth Leahy, assistant US attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. "Essentially, according to the indictment, it's a pill mill. You come in, you pay your cash, and you leave with a prescription in your hand for high quantities of addictive narcotics."
It's alleged the so-called patients would typically pay $250 for the first appointment to buy prescriptions, and $200 for each appointment to get refills.
If convicted, O'Brien faces 20 years in prison for conspiracy and five years for each count of distribution. He has been charged with 26 counts. Rongione faces 20 years for conspiracy.
O'Brien practiced out of offices in the 9800 block of Bustleton Avenue, in Philadelphia, and 49 Rolling Lane, in Levittown.
