Beleaguered Charleston neurologist Dr. Iraj Derakhshan was charged Monday with violating a federal record-keeping law involving the distribution of a controlled substance.
Federal prosecutors filed the felony charge in the form of an information, which can't be filed without a defendant's consent and usually signals a defendant has agreed to plead guilty.
Derakhshan allegedly "knowingly and intentionally" didn't report or record information regarding the dispensing of a Schedule II controlled substance to a patient on June 18, 2015 according to the charge, filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Miller Bushong. Schedule II drugs have a high potential for abuse.
When reached Monday, Derakhshan declined to comment on the charge, which carries a maximum four-year prison sentence. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge John Copenhaver Jr.
Last month, the West Virginia Board of Medicine suspended the neurologist's medical license for three years, finding that he failed to keep appropriate medical records and had provided improper instructions for the use of controlled substances. Derakhshan has appealed the suspension to a Kanawha Circuit Court judge.
Derakhshan was stripped last June of his DEA registration number, which is needed to prescribe drugs, after he ranked several times among the top prescribers of controlled substances in the state and also became the subject of complaints and lawsuits containing allegations of over prescribing addictive painkillers.
An investigation into Derakhshan's prescription history determined the doctor wrote more than 14,000 original and/or refill prescriptions for controlled substances from July 1, 2013, to Feb. 12, 2014, including 3,100 Schedule II controlled substances, the Gazette-Mail previously reported.
"Opioid abuse is one of the most pressing problems facing our state, and it's important that anyone who contributes to it be held accountable - even if that means prosecuting doctors who abuse their positions," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Clint Carte, who serves as a spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Carol Casto's office. "This charge exposes Dr. Derakhshan to the prospect of a federal felony conviction and a substantial prison sentence. We will continue to take on tough cases whenever necessary to help stem this crisis."
About a week after documents were unsealed last month to reveal federal agents were investigating the doctor, he told the Gazette-Mail that he had met with prosecutors and turned down a plea offer.
"Mr. Bushong even said, 'Oh I know that you did not have any bad intentions to harm anybody,'" Derakhshan previously said. "I truly believe these are blessings - opium and opiates are the most effective and the safest."
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided Derakhshan's Quarrier Street office on Feb. 9, looking for the medical records of 64 patients who died from overdose between 2010 and 2015 while under his care, a federal agent wrote in an application for a search warrant, which was unsealed later in February.
The agent wrote there is probable cause to believe Derakhshan violated federal law by distributing controlled substances without a legitimate medical purpose and outside the bounds of his medical practice.
Derakhshan denies those claims. The state Board of Medicine also ruled that his prescribing habits weren't improper.
It's not unusual for prosecutors to engage in discussions with defendants and their attorneys before charges are brought and give them an opportunity to be charged through an information document, rather than an indictment. Taking a deal before being formally charged can result in a more favorable deal and, sometimes, allow a defendant to avoid arrest.
Charleston attorneys John Kessler and Mike Carey are representing Derakhshan. They didn't return a phone call Monday for comment.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.