PHILADELPHIA. – United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that Daniel Rubino, M.D., has agreed to pay $8,000 to resolve allegations that he violated the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by dispensing and distributing Schedule III and Schedule IV controlled substances without an effective prescription issued for a legitimate medical purpose. The United States’ investigation involved Dr. Rubino’s self-prescribing practices at his medical office, Daniel T. Rubino, P.C., located at 176 E. Conestoga, Devon, Pa., 19333.
As part of the settlement, Rubino has entered into a two-year Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which includes additional responsibilities regarding the handling of controlled substances. The MOA imposes compliance obligations significantly more stringent than those in the applicable laws and regulations.
Between March 2020 and December 2022, DEA investigators discovered that Rubino was self-prescribing Schedule III and IV medications while he treated patients at his medical office, specifically buprenorphine and eszopiclone. During this time period, DEA identified that Rubino had written approximately 44 prescriptions to himself, and that he had done so without the oversight of a prescribing physician and with no initial assessments, reevaluations, or routine monthly visits with a full assessment of his chronic pain and urinalysis. Accordingly, Rubino repeatedly dispensed or distributed Schedule III and IV controlled substances to himself without an effective prescription in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 829(b) and 21 C.F.R. § 1306.04.
Congress enacted the CSA to deter the illegal importation, manufacture, distribution, possession, and improper use of controlled substances, including prescription medications, and requires individuals and entities registered with the DEA to maintain complete and accurate records of all controlled substances and security systems so that controlled substances are no lost, stolen, or inappropriately dispensed.
“Physicians who dispense and distribute Schedule III and IV controlled substances to themselves are engaging in a form of diversion,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “Physicians and pharmacists have a responsibility to ensure that all controlled substances are tracked through a distribution chain and are prescribed in the usual course of professional practice. Our office is committed to ensuring total compliance with the Controlled Substances Act and we will vigorously enforce violations whenever we find them. Self-prescribing by physicians is no exception.”
“The goal of DEA’s closed system of distribution is to create accountability for controlled substances – this includes accountability for physicians who self-prescribe controlled substances,” said Thomas Hodnett, Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Philadelphia Field Division. “By self-prescribing numerous prescriptions for controlled substances over the course of more than two years, Rubino violated this closed system and created an environment where controlled substances could not be tracked through a distribution chain. As a pain management physician himself, Rubino should have known better.”
The government’s pursuit of this matter illustrates its emphasis on combating diversion of controlled substances. The dispensing and distributing requirements applicable to DEA registrants, including physicians, are the tools by which the DEA deters drug diversion.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA’s Philadelphia Field Division, and the investigation and settlement were handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Deborah W. Frey and Anthony Scicchitano.
