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Saipan physician demands jury trial
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Posted on Mar 31 2021
A Saipan physician who is being accused of excessively prescribing opioids and controlled substances is demanding a jury trial on all issues that are legally triable before a jury, and for the complaint to be dismissed with prejudice.
Dr. John Doyle, through his lawyer, Steven P. Pixley, insists on his innocence, saying all his prescriptions were issued per a bona fide physician-patient relationship.
Pixley said that Doyle is seeking for the complaint to be dismissed with prejudice, that a judgment be made in favor of Doyle, and for him to be awarded further relief as the court deems just and proper.
In his filing with the U.S. District Court of the NMI last March 30, Doyle said he was interviewed by agents of the Drug Enforcement Agency twice: on Jan. 7, 2020, and Jan. 9, 2020. He said he was not provided a transcript of the interview but merely a summary that does not accurately reflect his statements during his interview.
Doyle claims that he was wrongfully cited by the DEA and denies violating the Controlled Substance Act or other regulations, Pixley said. “Prescriptions are lawful if they are ‘issued for a legitimate medical purpose by an individual practitioner acting in the usual scope of his professional practice,’” said Pixley.
He said Doyle acknowledges that he has an obligation to ensure that all prescriptions for controlled substances be issued for a legitimate medical purpose and that he fully complied with this obligation.
In response to the allegations of excessively prescribing opioids and controlled substances, Pixley said Doyle distributed the prescriptions with good faith belief that the prescriptions and his treatment plan served a legitimate medical purpose.
