United States v. Ahuja
Decision Date | 05 May 2017 |
Docket Number | CIVIL ACTION NO. 3:14-CV-1558 (JCH) |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut |
Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Petitioner, v. AJAY S. AHUJA, M.D., Defendant. |
On November 22, 2016, Dr. Ajay S. Ahuja, M.D. ("Dr. Ahuja"), the defendant, admitted liability for twenty-three counts of civil violations of the Controlled Substances Act ("CSA"), 21 U.S.C. § 801 et. seq.1 See Minute Entry (Doc. No. 126) ("Dr. Ahuja admitted each of Counts 1-23."); Am. Compl. (Doc. No. 106) (alleging twenty-three CSA violations). The plaintiff, the United States ("the Government"), asks the court to assess civil penalties against Dr. Ahuja of $496,500,2 see March 7, 2017 Hearing Transcript ("Tr.") (Doc. No. 153) at 143, and asks the court to order Dr. Ahuja "to comply with all federal laws and regulations pertaining to receipts, dispensations, andinventories of controlled substances" in the future, Am. Compl. at 8. Dr. Ahuja argues that the amount of penalties should be $28,462.16. See Tr. at 155.
The court accepted written affidavits in lieu of direct testimony and held an evidentiary hearing to hear cross-examination in order to then determine the amount of penalties.3
For the reasons that follow, the court ORDERS Dr. Ahuja to pay $200,000 and to comply with all federal laws and regulations pertaining to receipts, dispensations, and inventories of controlled substances in the future.
Dr. Ahuja is a practitioner registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration and authorized to handle controlled substances. See Am. Compl. at 1. The counts, all of which Dr. Ahuja admits, set forth the following violations:
Counts One through Eight set forth violations of section 842(a)(5) of title 21 of the United States Code4 and section 1304.04(a) of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations,5 based on failure to maintain controlled substance receipt records for (1)seventeen shipments of Alprazolam, see Am. Compl. Count I, (2) eight shipments of Hydrocodone Bitartrate with Acetaminophen, see id. Count II, (3) seven shipments of Guaifenesin with Codeine Phosphate, see id. Count III, (4) one shipment of Testosterone Cypionate, see id. Count IV, (5) one shipment of Zolpidem Tartrate, see id. Count V, (6) ten shipments of 75-milligram Lyrica tablets, see id. Count VI, (7) eight shipments of 50-milligram Lyrica tablets, see id. Count VII, and (8) one partially-used vial of Depo-Testosterone, see id. Count VIII.
Count Nine sets forth a violation of section 1304.04(f)(2) of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations6 for failure to separate controlled substance records for Schedule III, IV, and V substances from records for non-controlled substances. See Am. Compl. Count IX.
Count Ten sets forth a violation of section 827(a)(1) of title 21 of the United States Code7 and section 1304.11(c) of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations8 based on failure "to perform and maintain a biennial inventory of controlled substances." Am. Compl. Count X.
Counts Eleven and Twelve set forth violations of section 827(a)(3) of title 21 ofthe United States Code,9 and either section 1304.21(a)10 or 1304.22(c)11 of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, for failures (11) "to maintain accurate dispensing records for" Alprazolam, resulting in failure to account for 59 bottles, Am. Compl. Count XI, and (12) to properly complete a dispensation log for 517 bottles of this drug, see id. Count XII.
Counts Thirteen and Fourteen set forth violations of section 827(a)(3), and either section 1304.21(a) or 1304.22(c), for failures (13) "to maintain accurate dispensing records for" Hydrocodone Bitartrate with Acetaminophen, resulting in failure to account for 21 bottles, Am. Compl. Count XIII, and (14) to properly complete a dispensation log for 92 bottles of this drug, see id. Count XIV.
Counts Fifteen and Sixteen set forth violations of section 827(a)(3), and either section 1304.21(a) or 1304.22(c), for failures (15) "to maintain accurate dispensing records for" Guaifenesin with Codeine Phosphate, resulting in failure to account for 58 bottles, Am. Compl. Count XV and (16) to properly complete dispensation logs for 154 bottles of this drug, see id. Count XVI.
Counts Seventeen and Eighteen set forth violations of section 827(a)(3) and section 1304.21(a) for failure "to maintain accurate dispensing records for" (17) Testosterone Cypionate, resulting in failure to account for two vials, Am. Compl. CountXVII, and (18) Zolpidem Tartrate, resulting in failure to account for three bottles, id. Count XVIII.
Counts Nineteen and Twenty set forth violations of sections 842(a)(1)12 and 842(c)(1)(A)13 of title 21 of the United States Code, and section 1306.04(a) of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations,14 for dispensing "controlled substances outside of the usual course of [Dr. Ahuja's] professional practice," namely, (19) to Dr. Ahuja's ex-wife, Gurpreet Ahuja ("Gurpreet"), either Hydrocodone with Acetaminophen, or Alprazolam, on a total of four different occasions, Am. Compl. Count XIX; see also Dr. Ahuja Aff. (Def. Ex. A) ¶ 7(l) ( ), and (20) to his son, Sunny Ahuja, Guaifenesin with Codeine, on two different occasions, id. Count XX; see also Sunny Ahuja ("Sunny") Aff. (Def. Ex. C) ¶ 5 ( ).
Counts Twenty-One and Twenty-Two set forth violations of sections 842(a)(1)and 842(c)(1)(A),15 and section 1306.04(a) of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, for prescribing "controlled substances outside of the usual course of [Dr. Ahuja's] professional practice," namely, (21) to his son, Nicholas Ahuja ("Nicholas"), Zolpidem, on five different occasions, Am. Compl. Count XXI; see also Nicholas Aff. (Def. Ex. B) ¶ 5 ( ), and (22) to his brother, Uttam Ahuja ("Uttam"), either Cheratussin AC, Hydrocodone Bitartrate, or Hydrocodone Chlorpheniramine, on a total of three different occasions, id. Count XXII; see also Uttam Aff. (Def. Ex. D) ¶ 5 ( ).
Count Twenty-Three sets forth violations of section 842(a)(1) and 842(c)(1)(A) of title 21 of the United States Code16 for illegal possession of two (full or partial) bottles of Alprazolam which had previously been dispensed to Nicholas or Uttam. See Am. Compl. Count XXIII.
Maximum penalties for the various violations of law by Dr. Ahuja are set out in the statutes. "[A]ny person who violates" section 842(a)(1), "shall, with respect to any such violation, be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $25,000." 21 U.S.C. § 842(c)(1)(A). "In the case of a violation of" section 842(a)(5), "the civil penalty shall not exceed $10,000." 21 U.S.C. § 842(c)(1)(B).
391 F.3d at 399 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); Pl.'s Mem. at 1-2; Def.'s Mem. at 1-2.
The court finds that Dr. Ahuja engaged in the following conduct, or lack of conduct: (1) Dr. Ahuja dispensed controlled substances directly from his practice, despite the fact that most physicians choose instead to only "write prescriptions" and have "pharmacies dispense the medicines," see, e.g., Marcie L. Johnson ("Johnson") Aff. (Gov. Ex. 39) ¶ 14, (2) Dr. Ahuja prescribed controlled substances to family members, see, e.g., id. ¶ 11; Dr. Ahuja Aff. ¶ 7(l), (3) Dr. Ahuja failed to make proper notations in family members' patient charts when prescribing controlled substances to them, see, e.g., Tr. at 61-62, (4) Dr. Ahuja failed to properly record dispensations in his dispensation log, see Dr. Ahuja Aff. ¶ 7(e),(g),(i), (5) Dr. Ahuja failed to conduct a biennial inventory of the controlled substances he had on hand, for three to four years in a row, see Am. Compl. Count X; Johnson Aff. ¶ 28; Dr. Ahuja Aff. ¶ 7(d); Tr. at 112; and, as a result of this failure to conduct a biennial inventory, Dr. Ahuja lacked amethod of noting whether controlled substances had gone missing, see Tr. at 112, (6) Dr. Ahuja cannot account for certain medications, see, e.g., Dr. Ahuja Aff. ¶ 7(d),(f),(h),(j),(m),(k), (7) Dr. Ahuja consistently failed to upload information to the Connecticut Prescription Monitoring and Reporting System (CPMRS) regarding his dispensations of controlled substances to patients, thus preventing other doctors from knowing whether their patients may have been receiving controlled substances from more than one source, see Rodrick J. Marriott ("Marriott") Aff. (Gov. Ex. 37) ¶ 8; Tr. at 103, and, (8) if Dr. Ahuja's own theory were to be credited (which it is not),17 due to his insufficient security measures and failure to properly keep track of his medication, Dr. Ahuja allowed controlled substances to be stolen by his former secretary, who presumably used the substances for an illicit purpose; and Dr. Ahuja then failed to report this diversion to law enforcement officials, see Tr. at 95-96, 110-12, 115-16, 121-23.
The court credits and agrees with the opinion of University of Connecticut School of Medicine...
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