AQCAN:Maine doctor convicted on multiple counts of illegally distributing opioids

2025-05-05 14:30:17source:John Caldwellcategory:reviews

PORTLAND,AQCAN Maine (AP) — A Maine doctor who runs an addiction treatment center has been convicted on multiple counts of illegally distributing opioids including oxycodone, hydromorphone and fentanyl.

Dr. Merideth Norris, 53, of Kennebunk, Maine, was found guilty in federal court Friday of distributing the opioids at her practice. According to court documents, she did so without a legitimate medical purpose and knowing that some patients were battling an opioid addiction. She prescribed the drugs, according to court documents, even after patients failed drug tests or were known to redistribute the drugs in the community.

A federal jury convicted Norris on 15 counts of distributing controlled substances and she faces up to 20 years on each count.

Prosecutors accused Norris of putting her patients’ safety at risk, according to the Portland Press Herald, and failing to heed warning signs like failed drug tests among her patients or advisories from insurance companies about her prescribing of dangerous combinations of opioids and other drugs.

Her defense team tried to make the case that Norris helped patients reduce their medications and that the charges ignored the complexity of treating people who were addicted to opioids and struggled to find a doctor, the newspaper said.

RELATED COVERAGE In Atlanta to promote fentanyl actions, Yellen announces sanctions against Mexican cartel10 alleged Minneapolis gang members are charged in ongoing federal violent crime crackdownAn Oregon nurse faces assault charges that she stole fentanyl and replaced IV drips with tap water

Norris could not be reached for comment and her recovery center was closed Saturday.

Norris has long faced scrutiny for her prescribing practices, including from pharmacists who refused to fill prescriptions she wrote. Walmart pharmacies also issued a “central block,” or a nationwide ban, on filling prescriptions written by Norris.

More:reviews

Recommend

This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now

Many workers are dreaming of retirement — whether it's decades away or coming up soon. Either way, i

Delays. Processing errors. FAFSA can be a nightmare. The Dept. of Education is stepping in

After another frustrating delay with the Education Department’s rollout of changes to the college fi

FDA move to ban formaldehyde in hair straighteners called too little, too late

In April, a dozen years after a federal agency classified formaldehyde a human carcinogen, the U.S.