Indian-American doctor pleads guilty to illegally prescribing opioids
Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 May, 2023 11:20 AM
New York, May 16 (IANS) A 76-year-old Indian-origin physician has admitted that he illegally prescribed opioids to patients outside the usual course of his professional practice in the US.
Sawtantra Chopra, of Modesto in California, pleaded guilty to three counts of illegally prescribing opioids and other medication, US Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced last week.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 5 by US District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston.
According to court documents, Chopra, who was arrested in 2018, prescribed drugs -- including hydrocodone, alprazolam (Xanax), and Promethazine with codeine syrup -- not for a legitimate medical purpose.
These drugs are highly addictive and commonly abused.
They affect the central nervous system and may only be prescribed when medically required.
Chopra was arrested in 2018 and surrendered his medical license in 2020.
He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
The Air Canada crew found one litre bottle of Bacardi and a water bottle containing a liquid smelling strongly of alcohol with Patel. The crew confiscated the bottles as according to the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority, airline passengers can only consume alcohol provided by cabin crew during a flight.
Nearly a quarter of all international students in Britain are from India, and Indian investment into the UK supports 95,000 jobs across the UK. The UK Immigration Statistics, published in August 2022, showed that nearly 118,000 Indian students received a student visa in the year ending June 2022 -- an 89 per cent increase from the previous year.
The longest wait-time, typically for first-time visitors, is down from over 1,000 days to about 580, as a result of such measures that also include interview waiver for repeat visitors, additional staffing at consular operations in Indian missions and "Super Saturdays" when mission staff just process visas all day.
A 7.8-magnitude quake struck the same area on February 6, killing more than 44,000 people in Turkey and Syria. Those killed by Monday's tremor were found in Antakya, Defne, and Samandagi, Soylu said, urging people not to enter potentially dangerous buildings.
While the two victims were killed at the scene, the three injured were sent to local hospitals in fair-to-moderate conditions. It added that 125 passengers exited the train without medical complaint.
An 83-year-old Sikh woman, whose late husband of 66 years left her out of his will, has won a high court battle in London for a share of an estate worth more than 1 million pounds. Karnail Singh, who died in 2021, left nothing for wife Harbans Kaur and four daughters, as he handed all of his estate to his two sons.
