HOUSTON, Texas — In Houston, a federal jury found a physician guilty of unlawfully prescribing more than 1.3 million opioids.
During the trial, court documents and evidence demonstrated that Parvez Qureshi, 56, of Houston, Texas, a medical doctor, conspired with Rubeena Ayesha, a nurse practitioner, to unlawfully prescribe controlled substances, from 2014, through February 2016. Ayesha, 52, of Houston, previously pleaded guilty to participating in the scheme and is awaiting sentencing before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt of the Southern District of Texas.
Qureshi had prescribed opioids to more than 90 people during the busiest days of the clinic. People posing as patients at Spring Shadows were brought by “runners” who paid them for their visits. Each patient visit at Spring Shadows costs approximately $250-$500 in cash.
Prosecutors said that Quresh pre-signed prescriptions for patients who never saw a doctor. In total, Qureshi prescribed over 1.3 million dosage units of hydrocodone and over 40,000 dosage units of oxycodone, both Schedule II controlled substances. In addition to prescribing oxycodone and hydrocodone, Ayesha wrote over one million prescriptions for carisoprodol (Soma), a controlled substance listed under Schedule IV. Oxycodone/hydrocodone combined with carisoprodol is considered a dangerous drug cocktail with no known medical benefits. More than $1.5 million of the $4 million the clinic made through the scheme went to Qureshi.
The jury convicted Qureshi on one count of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and dispense controlled substances and four counts of unlawful distribution and dispensing of controlled substances. He now faces up to 20 years in prison per count and will be sentenced on January 10, 2022.