Physician faces court in federal drug case

• By JOHN COLVIN
• Advocate River parishes bureau
• Published: May 9, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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GONZALES — An Ascension Parish physician who owned and operated a “wellness center” is scheduled to appear in federal court next week on an accusation that he illegally prescribed medication.

Dr. Donald P. Auzine, 38, of Prairieville, is to appear Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Stephen C. Riedlinger of U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge, U.S. Attorney David Dugas said Thursday.

On Monday, Dugas’ office filed a bill of information charging Auzine with one count of unlawful dispensation of controlled substances.

A bill of information is not an indictment but rather a formal charge of crime filed against an accused, according to a federal grand jury handbook published by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. According to it, the accused must have waived his right that evidence of a serious crime first be presented to a grand jury, suggesting that Auzine may be working on a plea deal.

Dugas, however, would not say if any negotiations have taken place, and Auzine’s attorney, John DiGiulo, of Baton Rouge, was out of his office Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

Auzine, who owned and operated a Gonzales clinic, New Image and Wellness Center, at 3138 St. Landry Road, allegedly either prescribed or directed the dispensing of Adderall on 21 occasions, oxycodone once, hydrocodone, 13 times, and benzphetamine on 10 occasions, according to the bill of information.

Adderall is a name-brand amphetamine commonly used to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but may be abused as a stimulant, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s Web site, while benzphetamine is a diet drug that produces effects similar to amphetamines. Further, it states that both oxycodone and hydrocodone are typically used as pain relievers.

The allegation against Auzine stems from an undercover DEA investigation that allegedly documented the 45 instances that drugs were distributed “without a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual course of medical practice,” Dugas asserted.

If convicted, Auzine faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $1 million or both.

Kevin Harrison, assistant special agent-in-charge with the DEA, who oversaw the undercover investigation of Auzine’s clinic, had said many of the patients encountered at the clinic were from out-of-town.

People learn where drugs can be obtained from word of mouth and begin making trips for themselves and others, Harrison said following Auzine’s April 4 arrest.

Agents and Ascension Parish sheriff’s deputies searched Auzine’s house, clinic, bank safety deposit boxes and vehicles associated with Auzine prior to his arrest, seizing computers, patient records, and about $275,000 in cash.

Also found was about a quarter-pound of marijuana and a substantial amount of MDMA at the clinic, Ascension Parish Sheriff Jeff Wiley said at the time.