Lawrence Sherman, MD, a 75 y/o emergency medicine physician, was arrested June 21, 2021 for conspiracy to distribute opioids and 19 counts of distributing oxycodone outside legitimate medical practice. On November 14, 2023, he was convicted of all counts.
Here is his story:
“I was employed by a pain clinic outside of Detroit, MI, and was approached by the office manager/ medical assistant, who was planning to open her own clinic so that she could provide a low cost clinic to “aid her community.” I told her thank you, but I was working as many hours as I could at the time. That occurred in February, 2020. About six weeks later, she tearfully told me that her NP had quit abruptly, leaving her with an office full of patients, rent and expenses, and no way to recoup. Would I PLEASE help? I agreed to come 1-2 times a month, until I could be replaced. Unfortunately, that did not happen, and as COVID had closed another practice I worked at, I now had more time.
What I did not know was that she and her boyfriend were very clever criminals, who had planned this scam right from the start. They had learned to create fake MAPS, MRI’s, and UDS reports, all in an elaborate scheme to deceive me into prescribing to “legacy” patients they and others recruited to feign ailments and receive opioid medications. The Feds, however were quickly aware, and sent in paid informants of their own!I guess we were unable to convince the jury in my case that I was not a willing participant in the scheme, although I would NEVER have stayed there for even a minute had I known the scheme. All of the other four employees (including the owner) took plea deals and signed Cooperation Agreements, which meant they chose to testify against me. Even though their lies were exposed on the witness stand, I lost my case.”
Now Dr. Sherman was arrested and indicted before the SCOTUS Ruan/Kahn decision. But that should have been a major factor in his trial. However, the government doesn’t work that way anymore. The Judicial System is involved in the illegitimate conviction of innocent doctors. The judge did not give the proper instructions to the jury, as she was prejudiced. During his trial, she stated to the prosecutors “He’s just grasping at straws. And that’s all he’s got.” She also refused to allow notebooks to be produced as evidence of medical examinations.
Janeice Burrell of Macomb Township was the owner of the clinic and operated it with Angelo Smith. Burrell and Smith accepted only cash and charged patients based on the quantity and type of opioids they received.
Now, if the Feds already knew this clinic was supplying the area with drugs, why did they target the new doctor brought on board, and allow the real perpetrators to get reduced or no sentence in exchange for their testimony against a newly hired physician, naïve to what was going on?
Folks, it’s all about the money.
Going after the doctor allows them to confiscate all of his assets, even those he acquired before 2020 when he started working at this clinic. This must be stopped!
But how is this government overreach treated by the media? Doctors are told by their lawyers to not speak to anyone about their case. So the media just spouts what the DOJ/DEA says. And the DOJ/DEA spouts lies and whatever will get them a conviction. BECAUSE THEY CAN!!!
For Example,
“the feds allege Sherman issued 441,000 doses of opioids between March 2020 and June 2021 with a street value of more than $6.6 million.”
Acting U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin” stated:
“This indictment shows our continued commitment to investigate and charge those who fuel the opioid crisis in this state.” “This case is particularly troubling in that it involves greedy medical professionals who profited from prescribing and dispensing medically unnecessary drugs to individuals without regard to medical necessity.”
Detroit News writer Robert Snell headed his article with
“Macomb doctor fueled opioid crisis in $6.6 million drug conspiracy, feds say”
In the media articles, it was also noted that:
- The clinic was cash-only and charged patients based on the quantity, type and dosage of prescription opioids.
- Janeice Burrell, Smith and the employees also allegedly accepted cash for creating phony medical records for patients.
- Peter Burrell, Jr. was a patient recruiter who brought supposed “patients” to receive unlawful prescriptions from Dr. Sherman. Peter Burrell, Jr. would then fill the prescriptions and sell the prescriptions on the street at a significant profit.
- According to the indictment, Dr. Sherman issued more than 441,000 dosage units of Schedule II opioid prescriptions during the course of the conspiracy. These controlled substances had a conservative street value in excess of $6.6 million.
The government blames doctors for the fake government-created opioid crisis because that’s where the money is. As a former US Attorney stated at a pain management training session I attended in 2005, “Because that’s where the money is and the guns aren’t”.
So Dr. Sherman, being innocent of any conspiracy to send prescription drugs to the street, decided to go to trial. He didn’t understand the propaganda created over the last 20 years would convict him and the conspiracy of the Justice Department with the DOJ would ensure his trial would be biased.
On December 15, 2023, Dr. Sherman was convicted of 20 counts of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute prescription opioids and 19 counts of illegal distribution of oxycodone.
And here is why the doctor was the target, and not the owner or patient-recruiting distributor. Controlled and non-controlled “maintenance” medications were billed to health care benefit programs by the pharmacies. Billings to the Medicare and Medicaid programs for medically unnecessary prescription drug medications and maintenance medications during this conspiracy exceeded $500,000. This amount will then be extracted from Dr. Sherman’s assets.
It’s All About the Money!
Dr. Sherman’s sentencing is scheduled for April, 2024.
Linda Cheek is a teacher and disenfranchised medical doctor, turned activist, author, and speaker. A victim of prosecutorial misconduct and outright law-breaking of the government agencies DEA, DHHS, and DOJ, she hopes to be a part of exonerating all doctors illegally attacked through the Controlled Substance Act. She holds the key to success, as she can offset the government propaganda that drugs cause addiction with the truth: The REAL Cause of Drug Abuse.
Get a free gift to learn how the government is breaking the law to attack your doctor: Click here to get my free gift
Hello Preston Ward sorry for the delay to answer your very important question. It is possible the government claimed at first 441,000 units but then changed to 270,000 units. After you solve the equation by factoring 270,000 units divided by 15 months you obtain 18,000 units per month. If you further divide by 20 days M-F of a short 28 day month then you get 900 units per day. Then if you divide by 60 units each prescription has for a 30 day month you obtain Dr. Sherman wrote 15 prescriptions per day. If you do same math exercise for 90 units per prescription, then you will find he wrote 10 prescriptions each day. If he approved 120 units per prescription, then he wrote 7.5 prescriptions per day. If you divide 270,000 units by 0.6122449 then you get the 441,000 units. If you divide 15 prescriptions per day by 0.6122449 you obtain 24.5 prescriptions per day if 441,000 units. If you divide 10 prescriptions per day by 0.6122449 you obtain 16.3 prescriptions per day if 441,000 units. If you divide 7.5 prescriptions per day by 0.6122449 you obtain 12.25 per day if 441,000 units. Any provider is expected by top monopolies to see and prescribe from 30 to 45 patients per 8-hour shift. With that explained Dr. Sherman was able to see and prescribe without risking committing any errors. If 441,000 then I suspect he saw around 18 patients per day or between 16 to 20 patients per day. If 270,000 then I suspect he saw around 12 patients per day. If I divide the $168,000 he received for 15 months of work by $100 then he get paid for 1,680 visits or 112 visits per month. If I divide 112 visits between 20 working days per month then I get he saw 5.6 patients per day The government knows the sovereign immunity allows for inquisition trials away from public opinion. They can fabricate the business Dr Sherman worked because any top health monopoly or individual got problems with the way he think. They going to supress that too many evidence of government corruption because of entrapment, fabrication and targeting will draw too much attention to that trial. He might not be able to talk until after appeal when all forgotten or he dead. Very sad the reason corrupted government and top monopolies join in this scam is to profit from war, disease, pestilence and poor people loans from all of us living inside this country. There no doubt these people are working in 60 more countries and that why all countries broke.
If you simplify the equation of the alleged $168,000, he received in 15 months then in 12 months he obtain $134,400 per year. Then if you subtract $20,000 or more for the annual malpractice plus so many different other payments for so many government agencies you going to end very surprised. Very probable he was paid less than a retired firefighter. I want you observe in the link below how much firefighters, that government pays all their training, licenses, etc. end getting paid ten times more.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/investigations/clark-county-firefighters-earn-100k-plus-in-ot-3057150/
How come Dr. Sherman got 12 years for 20 counts and continues to claim innocence? Let say 2 fake patients visit him 10 times because they continue with chronic pain and obtain medication with lies. Also 5 fake patients obtain 4 prescription equals to 20 counts. Ironically because there no machine to know if patient is lying, the doctor will get arrested because the government can force any number of people to lie against anyone and use them at court. Also the doctor is entitled to 70 days fast trial by Constitution but court will delay because they need to arrest and threaten all community to get more forced confessions of guilty. All these courts do is totally amoral but Sovereign Immunity allows to arrest and convict anyone without real evidence. Lately the government wants conviction based on opinions. The inquisition led to widespread of death and suffering.
Karen, You don’t have to send multiple comments. They are not automatically approved, but have to be evaluated. I tried to email you earlier, but your email is wrong.
Your comment is accurate. So it is our responsibility to get the laws changed to end immunity for law-breaking government officials and to get the CSA repealed to end these attacks. We, on Doctorsofcourage, have the answer. We just need you, the citizen, to learn it and act on it.
Can business owner bill more for higher mg and is legal? Yes, because business ethics is different from all other ethics. Can Dr. Sherman request to get paid $100 for each visit he accepts to evaluate? Yes, he can request to be paid because no one can work free for too long in a capitalist system. Did that business profit $6.3 million in 16 months? Assuming the average, mean or mode billed was approximately $150 per Rx, then 5,880 Rx X $150 = $882,000 for 16 months and not $6.3 million. $882,000 / 16 months = $55,125 per month. After reducing $15,000 per month for normal operation expenses the remaining $40,000 for Dr Sherman and business owner raise the question why owner willing to get paid much less than Dr. Sherman? It only makes sense if business created, financed, and protected by FBI Sovereign Immunity with the purpose to harm Dr. Sherman, like when the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot. There are many realtors that own 10 homes at age 30. After working 50 years in the federal government any Janitor could obtained investment home in Florida at low interest during Covid. The Janitor can hold $1 million in retirement funds because Federal Thrift Saving Plan matched all deposits with equal amount every month plus interest compound, also Thrift gamble into top monopolies just like top politician do to obtain 6 million more every year. It seems they pick poor, ignorant and envious jury to obtain conviction because real evidence has not been presented up to this moment. The Judge was supposed to recruit for Jury the top pain prescribers and legal opioid consumers in Michigan to look for any real crime with help of prosecutors. The government was supposed to bring evidence of criminality but settle for evidence of envy and ignorance. Why did the Judge not admit Dr. Lawrence notes that evidence the fake story patient used to obtain medication? Because Judge want him arrested without evidence just like the prosecutor and the jury. Since Edward Snowden we all know government spy and guide us into problems with more advance technology to silence and reduce all our rights. Was it coincidence that Dr. Sherman lose his job or was Mr. Burns Simpsons and Elizabeth Rothschild the top Puppeteer business in 60 countries involved once more? This modality I will explain in a future. Was the FBI protecting this Legacy clinic? In Michigan NP cannot work without supervision of a medical doctor, so yes, the pharmacies should had notified DEA and they should had arrest the NP and the owner of Legacy clinic instead of the FBI. But this will not happen if Legacy clinic was protected by FBI Sovereign Immunity. So yes, this is solid evidence number two that clearly shows was an FBI fabrication! Did FBI nurture this business with dark money? Very probable most prescription paid to this business in excess $150 were done by undercovers protected by FBI to finance the expenses and existence of this business. Most people cannot pay more than $150 for any prescription and much less the homeless. It is not MD or Mexico or China to blame because in Mexico the previous year died from all kind of drug overdosage 1,700 vs more than 100,000 here in USA. Dr. Sherman is another that has saved countless thousands from death and suffering. Please End Inquisition Now!
The problem with your assertion here is that medicine is not a “business” in a legal sense like you mention at the beginning. Doctors are limited in what they can charge based on insurance. They make a contract with the insurance company and they cannot charge the patient any additional amount than the insurance pays. Now if a procedure isn’t accepted by insurance, they can charge the patient direct.
I base my opinion in that a health business like a pharmacy will not consider unethical or discriminatory to bill different for higher mg or higher quantity or for billing cash. Can you please clarify and elaborate what line I wrote that you did not understand or disagree?
If medicine not a business like you imply, then why after the Covid emergency medical doctor close 70% of the primary care offices while CVS clinics keep growing? Do Aetna paying CVS medicines up to 100 times more than in other countries is legal and ethically approved? If Aetna only want to pay the hospitals that are under their network, is that also legal and ethically approved by all goverment agencies including CMS, HHS, Congress and President? What if all those primary care clinics at CVS get paid but all those other doctors never get paid by all these insurances and to add more insult these same doctors are persecuted and arrested based on lies and opinions? Please clarify and elaborate the Congressman and Senators that open their doors to doctor of courage and how many doctors were invited and participated in these hearings. Also when next hearings scheduled?
I responded to your first 4 sentences. A doctor cannot bill a patient for more than the insurance pays for the service. As I said, medicine is not a business as you imply, that they can collect whatever they want from the patient. The contract is with the insurance company. It’s only if the doctor is not taking the insurance that they can charge whatever they want.
The problem you mention–that hospital-owned clinics get reimbursed by insurance but independent physicians don’t is true. It happened to me. When they closed my doors Medicare owed me $2 million that they had been denying. They deny payments to independent physicians because they can get away with it and save money.
We haven’t received any positive feedback from any legislator. We have not participated in any Congressional hearings. I was a speaker, back in 2018, at an FDA meeting, but that is all. That is why I am planning a face-to-facce with all legislators by a team of knowledgeable advocates sometime in the future. The prerequisite is to take my ecourse.
I hope that answers your questions.
Can you send me a link to the rule that sustain your point?
There is no such “rule”. It is in the contract when the doctor agrees to use the insurance. I don’t have those. Have your doctor show you one.
No, my doctor does not accept insurances because same problem.
441,000 pills in 16 months…. that’s over 27,000 a month. Assuming high doses and multiple prescriptions for each patient, it still seems impossible to write for this many pills in such a short period of time. Begs the question, Is Dr Sherman just pawn who is so clueless he didn’t pick up on it or was he in on it. There are bad doctors. And if a doctor writes a prescription for their own greed and not for the care of a patient, isn’t society obligated to reign them in?
You are believing the government propaganda. The fraud in this country is by hospital-owned groups, told to order every test, do every procedure, and bill for things covered better instead of what was done. Independent physicians work to keep the costs down for their patients. The government collaborates with the hospitals, so obviously they really don’t care about fraud. They are interested in genocide, eliminating the independent physicians that keep their “expendable” patients alive, or are minority, or have money and assets to confiscate. Quit believing the propaganda. No drug causes addiction. We need to do away with the CSA.
Hi Luk, let do some basic math first. A prescription for 30 days of a month range from 60 to 90 to 120 tablets. Let say most prescriptions between 60 and 90, like 75 tablet per prescription.
441,000 pills / 75 pills per rx = 5,880 prescriptions.
5,880 prescriptions / 16 months = 367.5 prescritions per month
In a month of 28 days you get 20 M-F working days, 367.5 rx / 20 days = 18 rx per day.
Top monopolies are asking PA, NP, MD to see between 30 to 45 adult or childrens per 8 hour.
There is no law that say he cannot prescribe 18 pain Rx for one year after so many years working so many risky and different areas. Michigan prescribed roughly 20 million pain prescription per year for decades long by only 17,700 physicians because the specialty of Radiology, Mental Health and Pediatrics that account for 4,810 physicians do not need to prescribe pain medications.
Luk your rights end when other people rights begin. The people who plot against other should go arrested and not the other way. I bet you he saw many injustices at the prison he worked for three years and that is the reason he got targeted.
Thank you
Thank you Dr Sherman for being a Pain Warrior! I respect you and your work as a humanitarian.
How does Dr. Sherman explain the allegation that he prescribed 400,000 pills over the course of 15 months? That’s roughly 1000 pills per day and there’s no way anyone could justify that.
I have forwarded your question to Dr. Sherman. But, considering these were legacy patients and doctors have basically been forced to prescribe low dose opioids, that could increase the numbers. Also, legacy patients often require more than one opioid–one continuous and one breakthrough.
I can only provide a limited response to those numbers because we are awaiting sentencing and anything being stated could easily be maligned by the prosecutors. I will state this, the government does not offer the complete picture and was given the ability to misuse at their disposal any information, no matter how obtained. Their side of their crafted narrative ignores Dr. Sherman’s, and no matter how false or exaggerated any statement they make, they suffer no negative consequences. This is a system that is broken!
We have allowed our government (specifically, the DOJ via Jeff Sessions), permission to use “Any tools necessary to go after doctors”, even if the DOJ already knew that the doctors were innocent. Duane Kees, who was then the Arkansas Attorney General, in a speech at a Prescription Drug Abuse forum, made this strategy clear. The issue is the government orchestrated the attack against pain patients and their prescribers. NO DOCTOR IS IMMUNE!
1,000 pills per day but to how many patients? And I assume that the “1,000 pills per day” number is meant to be used over an entire month. So should it not be “1,000 pills per days to be used over 30 days”?
Further, it also depends on what each pill was and what the mg amount was as well.
There’s just not enough information from this question to even form an opinion. And even then, we’re second-guessing the physician, his professional judgment, and whether there is a case here at all.
I am against illicit prescribing just as much as the next guy — but not when it’s actually licit, medically proper and justified, and when proper, medically-valid prescribing is maliciously called “illicit”… never mind if not doing so results in patient torture.