Nurse Practitioner Called a Drug-Dealer at Sentencing
Nurse Practitioners in Alabama are required to have physician collaboration. However, at Lillian Akwuba, skirted this law and others when she prescribed controlled substances to patients who didn't need it and forged the signatures of physicians. She's been sentenced to 10 years in prison and called a "drug dealer." Find out more about this story.
On May 29th, a Montgomery, Alabama judge sentenced former Nurse Practitioner, Lillian Akwuba to 10 years in federal prison. Akwuba was found guilty on 23 counts of healthcare fraud and drug distribution. However, she wasn’t alone in her acts that caused Judge Sharon Blackburn to tell Akwuba that she was a “ highly educated drug dealer” who wrecked the lives of patients and families to make money.
The Story
Dr. Gilberto Sanchez, who owned Family Practice in Montgomery, was arrested in 2017 for allegedly running a pill mill. He was indicted along with other staff members from his office, including Akwuba. They were charged with prescribing unnecessary controlled substances, such as hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl, and methadone. Not only did they give these dangerous drugs for no reason, but they also had patients return to their office every month to get their prescriptions. These visits were considered unnecessary and a form of healthcare fraud.
According to AL.com Akwuba left Sanchez’ practice in 2016 and opened her own practice, Mercy Family Health Care in Montgomery. She continued to overprescribe the same controlled substances. However, since she was legally required to collaborate with a physician, she broke the law in new ways. Prosecutors reported that she began forging signatures of physicians and faking the collaboration required under Alabama state law.
A WSFA News 12 article , reported that Akwuba pleaded for mercy at her trial and stated that her family depends on her for support. She said that she was remorseful. However, the judge pointed out that at no point during her hearing did Akwuba ever comment about the people that she prescribed dangerous drugs to and probably turned into addicts. Blackburn even replied that she didn’t feel that the former nurse practitioner understood the extent of her conduct and just how criminal her actions were.
An Assistant United States Attorney, Jonathan Ross was also present for the trial. He told WSFA that Akwuba showed “complete and utter disrespect to her patients and the court by lying under oath during the trial, and disrespect to the doctors who tried to work with her and curb her prescribing habits.” Ross also called Akwuba a “drug dealer.”
Ross feels that Akwuba is at higher levels of blame compared to Sanchez, who pleaded guilty to five counts and was sentenced to serve more than 12 years in prison. Akwuba remains detained until her family produces her passport, at which time she could be released on bond before heading to serve her sentence.
The Dilemma
There are so many issues in this story. Did Akwuba understand her prescribing actions? How was she able to go for such a long time forging the names of physicians? The state of Alabama only gives nurse practitioners limited authority to prescribe, which means they must have physician collaboration. Did pharmacists in the area not recognize the forgery?
Stories such as these can be used as ammunition to support the notion that nurse practitioners should not be given autonomy to prescribe without physician oversight and work independently. However, these stories are few and probably shouldn’t be used to set precedence for future laws. But, we all know what one bad apple can do to an entire bag, right?
What do you think should happen to Akwuba, and where did this situation go wrong? Share your thoughts below.
