Mass. doctor faces drug charges over pain treatment

A Massachusetts physician has become another in a growing list of doctors prosecuted for allegedly prescribing painkiller drugs inappropriately. Dr. Michael Brown has said he treated patients with OxyContin and oxycodone after taking them on from physicians who stopped treating chronic pain patients. Brown told investigators if patients appeared to be using street drugs, he wouldn't continue prescribing pain drugs. He also said if a patient seemed to be getting hooked on pain pills, he instituted plans to wean them off the drugs or refer them to a pain clinic.

The trial comes on the heels of a national trend that is seeing federal authorities more closely examine physicians who prescribe large or frequent doses of popular drugs like OxyContin, which are often abused or sold on the street.

To learn more about the case:
- read this Cape Code Times article

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