Sandusky doctor sentenced for illegally dispensing narcotics to patients

SANDUSKY, Ohio (WOIO) - A Sandusky doctor was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a year of house arrest after pleading guilty to illegally dispensing narcotics to patients.

Gregory Gerber was also ordered to pay a $100 special assessment and restitution in the amount of $861,892.13, according to the Department of Justice.

Testimony and court records show from January 2010 to August 2018, Gerber repeatedly prescribed controlled substances outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose, including fentanyl, oxycodone and oxymorphone.

The DOJ says Gerber used faulty diagnoses to prescribe excessive doses of controlled substances for long periods of time without evidence that the controlled substances were helping the patients, all while ignoring signs of addiction and drug abuse among those patients.

Court records say he profited significantly from prescribing a particular branded formulation of fentanyl.

Subsys, according to court records, was prescribed 835 times.

“This disgraced doctor violated the most important oath—to do no harm,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said.

“No punishment can reverse the damage of the opioid crisis, but we are fortunate to have investigators and partner agencies that root out these criminal schemes.”