Doctor sentenced to 24 years for fraud
PENSACOLA (AP) – A judge has sentenced a Panhandle doctor to 24 years and four months in prison after convicting him of over-prescribing narcotics including morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl.
Dr. Robert L. Ignasiak Jr. was also fined $1 million for health care fraud at his Freeport Medical Clinic.
Prosecutors told jurors he caused patients to become addicted to the drugs by prescribing them without medical necessity and that he prescribed narcotics to known drug addicts.
Medical examiners testified that several patients died in part because of the drugs.