United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy | U.S. Department of Justice
A family medicine practitioner from Three Rivers, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay $220,000 in civil penalties following allegations of improper prescribing practices involving controlled substances. Dr. Stephen R. Holuk, 75, admitted to regularly prescribing schedule II-controlled substances for his patients. It was alleged that he prescribed opioids in combination with benzodiazepines and muscle relaxers for four patients during the covered period.
Dr. Holuk reportedly wrote 280 prescriptions for opioids for these four patients while also prescribing them benzodiazepines and muscle relaxers. The allegations included that he prescribed opioids without consistently conducting functional pain assessments or opioid risk assessments and rarely checked the Massachusetts Prescription Awareness Tool before prescribing schedule II controlled substances.
Under the Controlled Substances Act, physicians registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration are required to issue prescriptions only for legitimate medical purposes and within the usual course of professional practice.
United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy stated, "When doctors prescribe addictive opioids outside the scope of proper professional practice, they put patients at risk of overdose and undermine efforts to address the opioid crisis." He emphasized that their office will continue to hold medical providers accountable for irresponsible prescribing.
Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, remarked on the settlement by saying it resolves allegations that Dr. Holuk abused his prescribing privileges. She encouraged the public to report any information about prescription abuse.
Roberto Coviello, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), noted that medical practitioners have an obligation to prescribe responsibly and for legitimate medical purposes. He affirmed their commitment to investigating allegations of dangerous and irresponsible prescribing.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Levy along with FBI SAC Cohen and HHS-OIG SAC Coviello. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Ross handled the case.