Collinsville osteopathic physician admits illegally prescribing drug

ST. LOUIS – An osteopathic physician from Collinsville, Illinois pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Tuesday and admitted illegally prescribing an anti-anxiety drug.

Matthew Steven Miller, 43, pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White to one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of making a false statement concerning a health care matter.

Miller admitted illegally writing prescriptions for the anti-anxiety drug Xanax for six people between 2016 and 2018. He did not have a doctor-patient relationship with them, had not examined them, had not determined that they needed the drug and did not document the prescriptions, his plea agreement says. On some occasions, they sold the drugs and split the money with Miller, his plea says.

Miller wrote the prescriptions despite not being licensed by Missouri’s Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs and lacking a Drug Enforcement Administration registration number necessary to do so.

Miller was licensed to practice medicine in Missouri, Michigan and New Jersey.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General and the South Central Drug Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Dorothy McMurtry is prosecuting the case.