Doctor offered prescription drugs in exchange ‘for sexual favors,’ Florida cops say
A Florida doctor is accused of orchestrating an elaborate scheme that offered prescription drugs for “sexual favors,” according to the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office.
Dr. Scott Hollington of Sawgrass Health in St. Augustine has been told he must surrender his medical license, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
His indictment came after a 14-month investigation that began when Hollington was suspected of “prescribing controlled substances in exchange for sexual favors and without a legitimate medical purpose,” the sheriff’s office said.
“During the numerous undercover operations that spanned more than a year, investigators revealed the scope of Hollington’s illegal prescribing, to include the use of several mid-level practitioners operating on a tele-medicine capacity for Hollington,” officials said.
Seven advanced registered nurse practitioners were identified as “co-conspirators in Dr. Hollington’s practice,” officials said.
Hollington is charged “with 10 counts of distribution of controlled substances and 1 count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances,” officials said.
“The indictment also notifies Hollington that the United States intends to forfeit his medical license, which is alleged to be traceable to proceeds of the offense,” officials said.
A Facebook page for Sawgrass Health reports it is an addiction treatment center. The website for the practice says it “does not prescribe controlled substances.”
Hollington told station WJXT the indictment was “a big misunderstanding” and he had “no idea” what was behind the accusations.
“I’m just a doctor trying to help patients,” he was quoted saying.
Searches of Hollington’s St. Augustine home and office “resulted in the seizure of digital evidence, an undetermined amount of United States Currency (USC) and solid gold coins,” officials said.
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