Perryopolis doctor’s arrest prompts use of program to help addicted patients
Federal officials said a Fayette County case prompted the first use of a program that helps patients find care or treatment if their doctor’s office is closed by federal law enforcement.
Dr. Emilio Navarro, 58, was indicted earlier this week on charges that he exchanged pain pills for sexual favors from a patient. Navarro, who lives in Coal Center but had a Perryopolis practice, was also charged with health care fraud.
Navarro’s practice was closed earlier this week.
“We know that while shuttering an office might mean the end of a doctor’s illegal behavior, it marks the beginning of an opioid-dependent patient’s quest for a new prescriber, and sometimes the street is a first choice,” U.S. Attorney Scott Brady said Wednesday.
The partnership between the state Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health and Human Services hopes to provide patients with resources for legitimate medical treatment or access to treatment for opioid addiction, Brady said.
As federal authorities arrested Navarro earlier this week and executed a warrant at his office, three Department Health employees and drug and alcohol counselors from Washington and Fayette counties met with patients individually to provide information about future medical care, Brady said. Several dozen patients were directed to other facilities, he added.
“The defendant was responsible for protecting the health and well-being of his patients, but instead he is charged with coercing them into sexual acts in exchange for medically unnecessary prescription medications that are fueling the opioid crisis in Pennsylvania,” said state Attorney General Josh Shapiro. “He exploited his position of power as a doctor, put his patients’ lives in danger, and defrauded Pennsylvania’s Medicaid Program, which provides health care to low-income Pennsylvanians.”
After his arrest Monday, Navarro was initially held in federal custody, pending a detention hearing. A judge on Tuesday set a $50,000 unsecured bond.
As part of his bond conditions, Navarro must permanently surrender his medical license and hand over any prescription pads to his attorney.