BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — A Battle Creek doctor who is accused of prescribing opioids and other drugs to patients who didn’t need them will pay over $700,000 to settle a lawsuit with the federal government.
Shekhar Thakur, who owned and operated Parkside Medical in Battle Creek, violated the Controlled Substances Act, according to a lawsuit by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The suit was filed in July of last year, saying Thakur routinely prescribed “highly addictive and dangerous controlled substances” without making sure the patient really needed it. The lawsuit also says Thakur still wrote prescriptions even though there were “indications” that the patients were abusing or selling the drugs. One of those indications was failed urine drug screenings that showed patients were taking illegal drugs or not the drugs Thakur prescribed. He also allegedly prescribed dangerous drug combinations like opioids and benzodiazepines, federal attorneys said.
Mental Health Monday: Opioid addiction
“Many patients sought out Thakur to feed their addictions to opioids or benzodiazepines. Some of Thakur’s patients shared their drugs with others or sold them on the street,” the complaint reads…