Doctor enters guilty plea

• By KORAN ADDO
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: May 20, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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A Gonzales physician who operated a smoking-cessation and weight-loss clinic admitted Monday he prescribed habit-forming drugs without a legitimate medical purpose.

Dr. Donald P. Auzine, 38, of Prairieville, pleaded guilty in federal court in Baton Rouge to one count of unlawfully dispensing controlled substances.

He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

U.S. District Judge John Parker has not scheduled a sentencing hearing.

U.S. Attorney David Dugas said Auzine’s guilty plea serves as a message to other physicians.

“Doctors are given a great privilege and they are subject to the law just like everybody else if they abuse that privilege,” Dugas said.

Auzine, whose federal drug-dispensing license has been revoked, entered the guilty plea after a nine-month investigation turned up at least 45 instances of illegal activity between June 27 and March 30, court records show.

Baton Rouge police officers and federal agents posing as customers were unlawfully prescribed or dispensed the stimulant Adderall, the diet drug benzaphetamine and pain relievers oxycodone and hydrocodone, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.

The pain relievers prescribed at the clinic can be addictive if abused, while Adderrall, a name-brand amphetamine commonly used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, can lead to psychological dependence, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency Web site.

In the plea agreement, Auzine admits dispensing the medications directly to customers or, in some instances, pre-signing prescriptions that were then filled by a clinic employee and given to customers by that employee.

Auzine will forfeit more than $275,000 seized from his home and vehicle by DEA agents as part of the plea agreement.

Auzine also faces loss of his license to practice medicine in the state, said Rita Arceneaux, executive assistant with the state Board of Medical Examiners.

“Pleading guilty to a felony is a violation of the Louisiana Medical Practices Act,” Arceneaux said. “We will investigate.”