A physician operating weight-loss clinics in the Savannah area has agreed to pay civil penalties and accept increased oversight to resolve allegations of violating the Controlled Substances Act.
Dr. Donald Lyle Gates, who runs three Scale Solutions clinics in Savannah, reached a settlement with the Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office, according to Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. The agreement requires Gates to pay a $100,000 civil penalty and allows him to maintain DEA registrations to dispense controlled substances under specific conditions, including two years of increased oversight by the DEA.
“Those with the authority to dispense potentially addictive drugs are expected to balance that power with the responsibility to provide adequate and trustworthy recordkeeping,” said U.S. Attorney Steinberg. “Recordkeeping requirements serve a critical role to ensure that controlled substances are not diverted for illegal purposes.”
Gates operates Scale Solutions clinics in Savannah, Pooler, and Hinesville and previously ran a clinic in Bluffton, S.C. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration alleged that Gates failed to keep records for prescription weight-loss drugs phentermine and phendimetrazine and dispensed them in violation of the Controlled Substances Act.
DEA Diversion Investigators conducted on-site inspections of Gates’ offices and found incomplete records of controlled substances inventories, documents memorializing receipt, distribution, and dispensation. Investigators alleged that Gates transferred controlled substances from registered locations to his home on more than one occasion.
The Controlled Substances Act tracks controlled substances from manufacture through distributor to end-user, allowing DEA monitoring at every juncture. Incomplete or inaccurate records risk illegal diversion into communities.
The civil settlement and Memorandum of Agreement do not constitute an admission of liability by Dr. Gates nor a concession by the United States regarding its claims' validity.
“Diverted and misused prescription medications pose a grave threat to public health,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “Therefore, it’s expected and required that physicians and other trusted medical providers maintain meticulous records of these controlled substances to prevent prescription drug abuse.”
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradford C. Patrick negotiating the civil settlement.