EKB News

{Kentucky}...A Paintsville doctor is set to be arraigned next week in Pikeville. An indictment filed Friday against Richard W. Albert, a doctor at a Paintsville pain clinic, alleges he conspired to illegally distribute drugs by writing prescriptions without a real medical need to do so. Investigators say Albert saw dozens of patients a day, issuing them prescriptions for pain pills and other narcotics, with little or no examination at times, while his "pill mill" operation generated a weekly pay of  $17,000 to $21,000 in January 2011. The indictment includes a forfeiture count under which the government seeks to take more than $530,000 Albert had in various bank and investment accounts. That money resulted directly or indirectly from his illegal activities, the indictment charges. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.