FILE – In this Feb. 19, 2013 file photo, OxyContin pills are arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. A panel of federal judges will decide whether lawsuits filed on behalf of babies born to opioid-addicted mothers should be separated from a larger federal case. Lawyers representing the babies and their guardians say babies have been harmed directly by the opioid industry, unlike local governments, hospitals and other entities. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)
DETROIT (AP) — A suburban Detroit doctor who admitted running an $18 million prescription drug scheme has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.
A federal judge on Wednesday also ordered Dr. Zongli Chang to pay a $1 million fine and forfeit $3 million. The Livonia man had pleaded guilty to orchestrating the opioid scheme between 2012 and 2017.
Chang said he was paid $150 to $400 for writing prescriptions for no medical purpose that were filled and then sold on the streets. Seven Detroit residents were also indicted, and six have pleaded guilty.
Chang’s plea agreement says recruiters would take the fake patients to pharmacies to get the pills, including hydrocodone and oxycodone.
His medical license was suspended by Michigan regulators in 2017.
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