Orthopaedic Specialty Group PC, an orthopedic practice with locations in Bridgeport, Fairfield, Shelton and Milford, and Dr. Lawrence Kirschenbaum, who works at the Fairfield location, have entered into a civil settlement agreement with the federal government to pay a total of $80,000 for resolving allegations they violated civil provisions of the Controlled Substances Act.
The government alleged Kirschenbaum”™s patients received “early fills” of their prescriptions for controlled substances on 40 separate occasions between April 2017 and January 2019.
When a prescription is filled early, “it is filled before the supply provided pursuant to an earlier prescription is or should be exhausted,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Connecticut.
The government claimed these 40 “early fills” violated the Controlled Substances Act and its implementing regulations.
As part of the settlement agreement, Orthopaedic Specialty Group and Kirschenbaum have agreed to stop dispensing Schedule II controlled substances from its offices and will direct their patients to fill their opioid prescriptions at pharmacies.
The medical group has also agreed to incorporate this change in protocol into a written policy that will be disseminated as written policy to all of its physicians and staff.
