A former Milford doctor is sentenced to 20 years in prison for unlawful drug distribution and maintaining a drug-involved office.
58-year-old Patrick Titus was convicted by a federal jury last July on 13 counts of unlawfully distributing and dispensing controlled substances and one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Titus unlawfully distributed or dispensed over one million opioids - including fentanyl, OxyContin, morphine, methadone and oxycodone - outside the usual scope of professional practice and not for legitimate medical purposes.
The evidence also noted that Titus frequently prescribed these drugs in high dosages and sometimes in dangerous combinations, mostly in exchange for cash to patients he knew suffered from substance use disorder or demonstrated clear signs the drugs were being abused, diverted or sold on the street.
“This sentence is a reminder that the Department of Justice will hold accountable those doctors who are illegitimately prescribing opioids and fueling the country’s opioid crisis,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Doctors who commit these unlawful acts exploit their roles as stewards of their patients’ care for their own profit.”
