Operators of health clinic, pharmacy face federal lawsuit over opioid prescriptions
February 20, 2021 - A civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida accuses the operators of a Tampa medical clinic and pharmacy of prescribing and dispensing opioids in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Dr. Tobias Bacaner, Theodore Ferguson II and Timothy Ferguson are named as defendants in the suit, which is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsay Griffin and trial attorney Scott Dahlquist of the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch. The government alleges that the three men ignored obvious signs of abuse or diversion when issuing and filling opioid prescriptions via Paragon Community Healthcare Inc. and Cobalt Pharmacy Inc. The suit also alleges that drug toxicity played a role in the deaths of several people who received controlled substances from the defendants.