The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced today that they have filed a civil complaint against nurse practitioner Joan Rubinger, who is registered in Stockton. They say she is running a national scheme to sell illegal opioid prescriptions for cash.
The lawsuit also asks that Rubinger not be allowed to prescribe controlled substances and that she be punished civilly for her alleged actions, which include giving more than 900 fake prescriptions to people across the country, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, from 2019 to 2024, Rubinger gave out highly addictive drugs like Oxycodone, Xanax, and Percocet without any medical supervision. He met with patients in hotel rooms and other non-medical settings and charged cash for orders.
The department also says that Rubinger gave customers a price list for controlled substances, which let them choose drugs without a medical reason.
The payments were made through encrypted messaging apps, and the chats were deleted automatically so that the scammers could not be found, according to the department.
The report brought up a number of cases, including one in which a customer got almost 13,000 Percocet pills over the course of four years, the department said.
The department stated that in a different case, a customer’s friend was caught with prescription drugs, illegal drugs, and $213,000 in cash.
The department also said that Rubinger reportedly gave customers written instructions on how to avoid being caught by police.
Some of these directions were to demand payment up front and give advice on how to avoid causing problems at pharmacies.
The U.S. attorney’s office says that officials want Rubinger to be punished financially and permanently be unable to prescribe controlled substances.
The U.S. attorney’s office says that her DEA license was taken away in June 2024.
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