GREENBELT, Md. – Joyce Shawanda Edwards, age 48, of Largo, Maryland, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to distribute and dispense oxycodone, in connection with a medical clinic that she owned and operated.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Jarod Forget of the Drug Enforcement Administration – Washington Division; and Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon, Office of Investigations, Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services.
According to the government’s statement of facts related to the guilty plea, from February 2017 to February 2020, Joyce Shawanda Edwards owned and operated Personal Touch Medical Spa, LLP (“PTMS”), formerly known as Holistic Health and Wellness Medical Spa LLP, a purported “pain management” clinic located in Largo, Maryland, which was, in reality, a “pill mill.” A pill mill is a health care provider’s office, clinic, or health care facility that routinely prescribes and dispenses controlled substances outside the scope of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. Justina Aburime was a nurse practitioner who worked at PTMS from February 2017, until she left in August 2018, at which time Thomas Charles Johnson, Jr., who was also a nurse practitioner, began working at PTMS. Aburime and Johnson were both authorized to prescribe controlled substances for legitimate medical purposes and in the course of professional practice.
According to court documents, Edwards, Aburime, and Johnson distributed and dispensed oxycodone that was not prescribed for a medical purpose or in the usual course of professional practice. Edwards typically charged customers who came to PTMS a fee of $280 for an initial visit and $250 for any subsequent visit. Edwards required customers of PTMS to provide certain paperwork, generally a magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) report, a prescription history, and a “plan of care” purportedly signed by the customer’s primary care physician, to include in the customer’s patient file to support the claim that there was a legitimate medical need for the prescription of oxycodone. However, as detailed in court documents, Edwards and her co-defendants, Aburime and Johnson, prescribed oxycodone even when the medical records revealed that there was no legitimate medical need for the prescription.
Edwards admitted that Aburime and Johnson pre-signed blank prescriptions, allowing Edwards to issue prescriptions for oxycodone under their names. As detailed in the government’s statement of facts, although Edwards was not authorized to prescribe controlled substances, she wrote and issued prescriptions for oxycodone using blank prescriptions that Edwards signed under the name of a nurse practitioner. Edwards issued prescriptions for controlled substances at times when a nurse practitioner was not present and did not see the patient, including on dates when Aburime and Johnson were out of town. As part of the conspiracy, Edwards, Aburime, and Johnson: conducted cursory, incomplete, and inadequate medical examinations; prescribed controlled substances on the basis of diagnoses that were not corroborated by the medical record; increased the customer’s dosage over time without a medical justification; falsified urine drug test results for customers receiving oxycodone prescriptions; and permitted the customer to determine the drug type and dosage, rather than prescribing controlled substances according to legitimate medical need.
For example, during the investigation, several undercover law enforcement officers visited the clinic and were provided prescriptions for Oxycodone, although none of the officers had a legitimate medical need. On December 12, 2017, Edwards wrote, signed, and issued to “Trina King”—an undercover law enforcement officer—a prescription for 100 Oxycodone 30mg tablets under Aburime’s name and DEA registration number. Aburime was not present and “Trina King” did not see Aburime on that date. Prior to that date, “Trina King” had received prescriptions for only 5mg and 10mg dosages of Oxycodone from the nurse practitioners at PTMS, and there was no legitimate medical justification for the increased dosage or quantity of Oxycodone. Edwards also repeatedly issued Oxycodone prescriptions under Aburime’s name and DEA registration number to patient “Andrew Jones”—another undercover law enforcement officer—including on numerous dates where Aburime was not present and did not see the patient.
A search warrant was executed at PTMS’s office on July 10, 2019, and law enforcement recovered from Edwards’ office and an examination room, nine pre-signed prescription pads bearing Johnson’s name, DEA registration number and signature on each prescription, but otherwise blank. Agents also seized two PTMS bank accounts containing a total of more than $278,000. The government will seek forfeiture of those funds as proceeds of the illegal distribution of Oxycodone.
Co-defendants Justina Aburime, age 56, of Bowie, Maryland and Thomas Charles Johnson, Jr., age 59, of Baltimore, Maryland, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.
Edwards faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for the conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances. U.S. District Judge Lydia K. Griggsby has scheduled sentencing for May 29, 2024 at 10:30 a.m.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended he DEA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General for their work in the investigation and thanked the Charles County Sheriff’s Office, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Virginia State Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department for their assistance. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Wright and Ranganath Manthripragada, who are prosecuting the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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