Prescriber of Huge Amounts of Antipsychotic Drug Was Taking Kickbacks

Rob Wipond
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ProPublica has provided an update on their investigation of Dr. Michael Reinstein. “A former Chicago psychiatrist who was the nation’s top prescriber of the most powerful and riskiest antipsychotic drug intends to plead guilty to a federal felony charge of taking kickbacks from its manufacturer in exchange for prescriptions,” stated ProPublica.

“In 2009, ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune reported how in one year Reinstein prescribed more of the antipsychotic clozapine to patients in Medicaid’s Illinois program than all doctors in the Medicaid programs of Texas, Florida and North Carolina combined,” reported ProPublica. “Autopsy and court records showed that at least three patients under Reinstein’s care had died of clozapine intoxication. At that time, Reinstein defended his prescription record, arguing that clozapine is effective and underprescribed.”

Huge Prescriber of Risky Antipsychotic Drug to Plead Guilty to Taking Kickbacks (ProPublica, February 6, 2015)

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Rob Wipond
Rob Wipond
Rob Wipond is a Victoria, British Columbia-based freelance journalist who has been writing on mental health issues for fifteen years. His research has particularly focused on the interfaces between psychiatry, the justice system, and civil rights. His articles have been nominated for three Canadian National Magazine Awards, six Western Magazine Awards, and four Jack Webster Awards for journalism. He can be contacted through his website.

16 COMMENTS

  2. Surely if he was receiving money for doing something that resulted directly in people’s deaths, he should be charged with murder.

    As a doctor (albeit a psychiatrist) he should well be expected to know the potential effects of the drugs he prescribes, and there should be no excuse for such total disregard for human life in return for financial advantage.

  3. I witnessed a NH Dr. administer 3X recommended amount to a patient for over a year, no questions by others within the designated “community mental health organization”.

    Seems NH is asking to LEGALIZE through state legislation, the ability to “bill” and MANDATE PAYMENT for antipsychotics by insurers .

    Here is the proposed legislation (scroll down for actual text), coming up this week:
    http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2015/HB0564.pdf

    Just amazing, the power of the pen.
    Prescribe and abide

    Let’s not overlook this “ultimate” compensation package in VT. as well, seems it pays :
    http://vtdigger.org/2015/02/09/compensation-package-retired-mental-health-services-ceo-650000/

  4. He will get a slap on the wrist in the form of a monetary fine and he’ll go merrily on his way. Anyone else would go to prison for murder. At least they took his license away from him so he can’t write any more scripts. This is absolutely disgusting. I’m sitting here wondering why it took them so long to do something about him.

    • They can’t even kick out the CIA torturers at the APA – do you expect a guy who only killed 3 people (at least those “documented”) by over-prescribing to go to prison? I’m starting to think there needs to be a revolution…

  5. Yes, Illinois is a state that is giving the doctors free reign to harm and murder patients with the psychotropics, and for profit. I reported psychiatrist, Humaira Saiyed, and internist, V R Kuchipudi, to the hospital, the IL Dept of Prof Reg, the State’s Attorney’s office, and the FBI years prior to V R Kuchipudi’s actual arrest by the FBI in 4.2013:

    http://www.idfpr.com/Forms/PDFs/091313Maitrasuspexhibits.pdf

    http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2013/pr0416_01a.pdf

    Both doctors still have their IL licenses and are still practicing, and neither Kuchipudi nor Humaira have ever been charged for having me medically unnecessarily shipped a long distance to them, illegally holding me according to the court documents, and “snowing” me at Advocate Good Samaritan hospital. And this ELCA hospital claims such “torture” of patients to be, “appropriate medical care.”

    When will the state of IL learn to actually address patients’ concerns? God knows how many patients these doctors have already killed due to their greed, and the lack of timely oversight of the medical community by the government bodies tasked with this responsibility?

  6. I really do not know anything much about this case. I will pose a few points to consider:
    1. I really doubt he was getting kick backs. He was probably being compensated for speaking or research. Many outside of the industry call that a kick back. He would go to prison for sure if he was being compensated for an RX.
    2. All medicine has risk. Just like driving a car has risk. It is established in the product insert an is unreasonable to think that people will not die sometimes. Just like people die in cars. I am not downplaying it. Just saying that it is unreasonable to think an airplane will not crash sometimes. They do crash and people die.

    sorry.