More than a decade ago, Florida legislators passed laws to regulate so-called pill mills that once dominated the state and fueled the opioid crisis across the country.
The regulations slashed the number of pain clinics operating in the state. But a recent federal investigation into a South Florida opioid distribution ring highlights potential gaps in the state’s oversight.
In early June, federal prosecutors accused Dr. Sergei Margulian, 58, of Hallandale Beach, of doling out oxycodone to clients he never examined, prescribing roughly 2.9 million pills out of clinics in Broward and Miami-Dade counties between 2021 and 2024…