LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville doctor pleaded guilty Monday to telling his staff to distribute opioids by giving them pre-signed prescriptions.
Dr. Lawrence Peters was facing federal charges as part of a nationwide health care fraud operation. According to a news release Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Justice, Peters pleaded guilty after he "knowingly and intentionally conspired with others in his medical practice to issue pre-signed and unsigned prescriptions for Schedule II controlled substances and further directed his staff to fill the prescription at his physician's owned pharmacy."
In late 2018 and early 2019, court documents say Peters allowed his staff at the Pain Management Center of Kentucky in south Louisville to distribute opioids by giving them pre-signed prescriptions for controlled substances and told them to fill those prescriptions at his physician-owned pharmacy.
UofL Health said he is not employed by the hospital, but rents office space in a medical plaza at Mary & Elizabeth Hospital.
The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure has issued an emergency order of restriction suspending him from prescribing, administering, dispensing or otherwise utilizing controlled substances.
The DOJ said Peters will be sentenced Dec. 12, and the plea carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison. However, the DOJ is recommending he only receive probation.
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