Physician Practice Roundup—California doctor arrested for allegedly prescribing drugs tied to deaths

A Southern California doctor was arrested Tuesday on federal charges that allege he illegally distributed opioids and other narcotics by writing prescriptions, including to at least five people who suffered overdose deaths. But his prescribing also appears linked to the death of a bicyclist struck by a driver allegedly under the influence of drugs and to a mass shooting at a California bar. Dzung Ahn Pham, D.O., 57, of Tustin, California, who owns Irvine Village Urgent Care, was arrested by special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration on a criminal complaint that charges him with two counts of illegally distributing oxycodone, according to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Pham allegedly wrote prescriptions for patients without medical examinations. An affidavit alleges Pham was selling prescriptions to patients who were drug addicts or were selling the drugs on the black market. One man who allegedly obtained prescriptions from Pham was involved in a car accident last month that killed a bicyclist, who was a captain with the Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue Department.