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Dr. Yutong Zhang, 64, of Berwyn, pleaded guilty last February to four counts of distributing oxycodone outside of the usual course of professional practice and for no legitimate medical purpose, US Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said in a statement.
Investigators have said that Zhang sold medically unnecessary opiate prescriptions for more than 100 "patients" who were really just cash-paying customers. Zhang would hand out prescriptions for addictive and potentially deadly drugs after performing only a brief physical exam, or sometimes no exam at all.
The doctor made no efforts to treat his patients for the underlying causes of their chronic pain, prosecutors noted.
"As a physician, Yutong Zang was certainly aware of the inherently dangerous nature of the drugs he was selling, but he chose to profit from sales of prescriptions, instead of providing genuine medical treatment," Romero said.
Zhang will also be forced to pay out a $715,000 settlement in a separate-but-related civil suit filed under the Controlled Substances Act, the US Attorney said. Per the terms of the settlement, Zhang will be permanently barred from ever prescribing controlled substances again.
Zhang received his medical degree from Shanxi Medical University in China and has been in practice for more than 21 years, according to his bio on U.S News and World Report.
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