Owner of Philadelphia Pain Management Clinic Pleads Guilty to Illegal Distribution of Oxycodone and Xanax

PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced that Arthur Miriana, the owner of a Philadelphia pain management clinic, pled guilty today to conspiracy to distribute and distribution of oxycodone and alprazolam, commonly known as Xanax.

“This defendant significantly contributed to our region’s crippling opioid epidemic,” said U.S. Attorney McSwain. “The misuse of opioids is killing our citizens, and we have to do everything possible to stop the illegal distribution of these deadly drugs under the guise of ‘pain management.’ This defendant was operating nothing more than a corrupt pill mill.”

Miriana, 52, formerly of Medford, New Jersey, owned and operated Life-Line Health and Wellness, purportedly a pain management clinic located at 1341 North Delaware Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Miriana recruited drug dealers and drug addicts to visit his pain management clinic.

These drug dealers and drug addicts paid $260 to $360 in cash for prescriptions for commonly abused controlled substances such as oxycodone and Xanax. Miriana was not a physician, so he hired Dr. Barbara Schneider to sign these prescriptions. Dr. Schneider did not perform medical examinations as required to lawfully prescribe controlled substances. She typically met with “patients” only as long as it took for her to sign the prescriptions. Additionally, Dr. Schneider gave pre-signed blank prescriptions to Miriana for use when she was not in the office.

Dr. Schneider previously pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and alprazolam, and she is scheduled to be sentenced on September 21, 2018.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, with assistance from the Philadelphia Police Department, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert J. Livermore and Timothy M. Stengel.