SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A former doctor was sentenced for illegally prescribing massive amounts of controlled substances to patients.
The U.S. Department of Justice said former physician Nicholas J. Capos Jr. of Yuba City, California was sentenced to four years and four months in prison for selling prescriptions for drugs such as oxycodone and methadone.
In 2016, Capos pleaded guilty to distributing oxycodone. According to the plea agreement, he prescribed 2,640 APAP/Hydrocodone pills in the space of one month for a single patient. That amount of medication is far in excess of human tolerance.
Prosecutors said Capos prescribed controlled substances without examining patients and ignored obvious signs the drugs were being abused or resold. In addition, he charged a bogus “DEA Fee” of $100 per prescription.
“By prescribing medications to patients he never physically examined in amounts clearly intended for abuse and resale, Capos injected potent and potentially lethal drugs into the community, putting lives at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Scott. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to doing its part to combat the nation’s opioid crisis by devoting resources to cases like this and working with our law enforcement partners to end the unlawful distribution of these dangerous drugs.”
“The public should have confidence that practicing physicians will adhere to the do‑no‑harm principle. Nicholas Capos did just the opposite when he prescribed oxycodone without legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of practice. This type of reckless behavior provides fuel to the fire of the opioid epidemic plaguing our nation,” stated DEA Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin.
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