A federal jury convicted a Tennessee physician earlier this week in the Middle District of Tennessee for unlawfully distributing opioids from his Smyrna clinic.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Hau T. La, 54, of Brentwood, owned and operated Absolute Medical Care (AMC), which closed in the Spring of 2021.
At AMC, La purportedly provided addiction treatment as his primary practice, but nevertheless prescribed opioid pain pills to some of his patients despite red flags for addiction and abuse.
AMC, which did not accept health insurance, charged patients $200-$350 cash, credit, or debit, per visit and was only open on Fridays. La rarely spent more than a few minutes with the patients to whom he provided unlawful opioid prescriptions.
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La was convicted of 12 counts of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, outside the usual course of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose.
He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of these convictions. La was acquitted on four counts of the indictment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2023.
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