SACRAMENTO, California — Joan Rubinger, a nurse practitioner in Stockton, has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle allegations of violating the Controlled Substance Act, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Grant.
The United States alleges that Rubinger dispensed controlled substances on at least 900 occasions without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the course of professional practice. It is contended that she sold prescriptions to individuals who were not her legitimate medical patients, with whom she had not established a bona fide medical provider relationship, or for whom she failed to identify and document a legitimate medical need for controlled substances.
“We remain unwavering in our commitment to hold health care providers accountable when they violate their duty to properly prescribe controlled substances,” said U.S. Attorney Grant. “Our community has the right to trust that providers will prescribe these drugs only within the usual course of professional practice and only in accord with the law.”…