Detroit Doctor and Crew Indicted on Charges of Illegal Opioid Distribution

Monday, November 19, 2018 | 0

A Detroit general practitioner, his office manager and her brother have been indicted on federal charges of illegal distribution of $2.6 million worth of controlled substances, including opioids. 

Dr. Otis Leon Crawford and Debbie Ann Taylor opened Doctors Creative Care in 2016. For two years, Crawford provided little or no medical examination but prescribed Xanax, Valium, codeine cough syrup and other drugs, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Michigan.

Taylor, the office manager who has no medical license, recommended medications for patients, prosecutors said. Also, Taylor's brother, Earnie Ronnie-Jaew Taylor, allegedly recruited "patients" from his neighborhood who would visit the doctor and receive unneeded prescriptions for opioids and other medications. 

Once the prescriptions were filled, Earnie Taylor would take them for illegal distribution on the street, the bulletin said. The top 10 drugs Crawford prescribed had a street value of more than $2.6 million, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Engstrom said.

A call to Crawford's office Friday went to voicemail.