Clough gets 4 years for fentanyl kickbacks – News – seacoastonline.com

CONCORD A former physician assistant, described as “one of the nation’s most prolific prescribers” of the addictive fentanyl spray Subsys, was sentenced Monday to 4 years in prison for prescribing the drug to ineligible patients and taking cash kickbacks from the manufacturer.

Christopher Clough, 45, of Dover, was sentenced Monday in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire.

“This case is about greed and the violation of the fundamental trust between patient and provider that is at the heart of our medical system,” wrote U.S. Attorney Scott Murray in a sentencing memo to the federal court.

The sentence stems from Clough’s former role as a physician assistant for PainCare of New Hampshire in Somersworth. The U.S. Attorney’s office reported Clough wrote nearly 750 Subsys prescriptions, worth about $8 million, with Medicare and Tricare paying $2.7 million of it. The sentencing memo reported patients did not know the risks associated with Subsys and assumed Clough was prescribing it in good faith as their medical provider.

“In short, the defendant’s conduct was dangerous, deliberate, and it represented a grave betrayal of the ethical, moral and legal obligations every medical provider owes to his or her patients,” the prosecutor’s memo argued.

Clough was found guilty after a December trial when Murray said Clough, “often prescribed the drug for patients who did not have breakthrough cancer pain (as required by law). He often started patients on high doses of the addictive fentanyl spray and rebuffed patients and their family members who stated that they no longer wanted the drug.”

Prosecutors proved Clough took cash kickbacks paid by the drug manufacturer for 40 “sham” speaking events, five of them at high-end Portsmouth restaurants. As a speaker, Clough was purportedly paid for talking to health care providers about the benefits of the fentanyl spray, but they were attended by his friends or colleagues, or sometimes he was the only person authorized to prescribe medication, according to the indictment against Clough. To make it appear as though more people attended, signatures were forged and extra meals were ordered, the indictment states.

The U.S. attorney’s office had sought a 63-month sentence and Clough, through attorney Patrick Richard, had petitioned the federal court for a 12-month sentence.

In a sentencing memo, Murray’s office wrote that Clough “peddled opioids for the same reason as any other drug dealer – greed.”

“But in an important respect, the defendant’s conduct is more egregious than the street dealer; unlike the street dealer, the defendant had effectively a fiduciary relationship with those to whom he delivered the drugs in which he was required to act only their best interest,” the memo states.

“Mr. Clough’s actions were a disturbing betrayal of his patients’ trust,” Murray said in a statement after Monday’s sentencing. “Rather than making his prescribing decisions based upon the needs of his patients, his decisions were tainted by the kickbacks he was paid by a pharmaceutical company. This substantial sentence should serve as a warning to all health care providers in New Hampshire that there will be severe consequences if they choose to engage in criminal conduct.”

“Fentanyl is causing tremendous damage to our communities,” said Brian D. Boyle, DEA special agent in charge. “Those who illegally distribute fentanyl will be held accountable through our court system. Today, Mr. Clough has been held accountable for his actions. The investigation and prosecution of illegal distribution of fentanyl is a top priority of the DEA.”

“Mr. Clough is no better than a street level drug dealer,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division. “He exploited his patients, betrayed their trust, and accepted kickbacks for his own personal enrichment. Today’s sentence marks an important step in holding doctors responsible for their role in fueling the opioid epidemic and be assured, the FBI will continue to identify and bring to justice doctors like him whose practices promote fraud with a total disregard for patient safety.”

Portsmouth attorney Michael Rainboth has represented multiple Seacoast clients who filed and settled civil suits claiming they were injured by addiction from Clough’s illicit prescriptions of the drug.