Nabil Jabbour, MD, 69, a family practice physician with addiction-medicine practices in Greensburg and Connellsville, PA was sentenced Dec 10, 2020 to 1 year and 1 day in federal prison for doing his job.

Dr. Jabbour was authorized by law to prescribe buprenorphine in the treatment of opioid-addicted patients, and did so from 2014 to 2016. He did not accept insurance and his charges were very reasonable–$100 for the first visit and $80 for any subsequent visits.  These low prices show he is a compassionate physician trying to serve the uninsured and poor in his area.

The government sent in 3 undercover law enforcement officers who lied to get treatment, but then, in order to trap the doctor, later stated they did not have an opioid use disorder. This is the standard DOJ MO. Even though it is entrapment, it holds up in court because of the propaganda in the average American’s mind that opioids cause addiction, and that makes doctors criminal drug pushers. We must put an end to this propaganda with the truth.  No drug causes addiction.

Dr. Jabbour was indicted September 27, 2018. The twenty-five count indictment included seventeen counts of distribution of buprenorphine in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & (b)(1)(E)(i); two counts of using and maintaining a drug-involved premises, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 856(a)(1); one count of health care fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1347; and five counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957(a).

On October 28, 2019, Dr. Jabbour entered a plea of guilty to three of the distribution charges (Counts One, Five, and Seventeen), the health care fraud charge, and one of the money laundering charges (Count Twenty-Five).

The two drug-involved premises charges were simply based on the fact that he dispensed buprenorphine from his offices.  That is the proper method of treatment with Suboxone, but that doesn’t matter to the feds when they can easily get an innocent doctor like Dr. Jabbour to plea guilty for doing his job.

Another problem with the law that most doctors don’t realize is that if you aren’t involved in Medicare/Medicaid, but you see their patients and they fill their prescriptions using those insurances, the doctor is charged with fraud.  But the doctor has no control of what the patient does.  After all, the patient should be entitled to the prescriptions being paid by their insurance. They are the ones paying for their insurance. The doctor not accepting government insurance should not be involved in the filling of the prescription. But this is a way the government has to attack innocent physicians and make money. Most doctors are not even aware that the government does this.

And now, what a doctor does for pleasure and enjoyment is now charged by the DOJ as the method for money laundering.  Dr. Jabbour enjoyed going to casinos in his state. The government charged him with money laundering his income at the clinic at the casinos.  Legitimate income for treating legitimate patients. But when you spend it on anything, you are “money laundering”. What’s wrong with this picture?

The government stated that Dr. Jabbour ran a urine drug screen on three occasions on 2 of the undercover officers, but in spite of the fact that urine drug screens are recommended to be run on a random basis, acted like this wasn’t enough, and was criminal. But then in other cases when the doctor runs UDS’s every visit, they are charged with fraud for “unnecessary testing”.  Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.

Dr. Jabbour, an innocent physician doing his job, ended up with a presentence investigation report total offense level of 15 with a criminal history category of 1 (no criminal history), which provides guideline imprisonment range of 18 to 24 months and fine range from $7,500 to $75,000. The government also asked for restitution of $40,000 in addition to the almost $20,000 confiscated at the raid.

The government report requested a prison sentence to “send a necessary and important message to physicians that the prescription of scheduled substances will not be tolerated. The real criminals in this scenario are Scott W. Brady, US Attorney and  Eric G. Olshan, Asst U.S. Attorney, for creating crime where there was none to criminalize an innocent physician for money.

Dr. Jabbour fits the profile of the type of doctor being attacked—minority.  He is an immigrant physician, graduating from Damascus University Medical school in 1975, attending residency in America in 1985. The collusion between hospitals and government now brings in immigrant students to work in the hospitals as slave labor, only to go to prison after they have created an established practice. Doctors need to wake up and recognize that the profession as a whole is being degraded and used by the government to achieve their purposes.  We, as a profession, need to get up off our arses and get behind our colleagues being used in this way and stop illegal government overreach into our profession.

Addendum:

Dr. Jabbour was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day. He was released from prison on 1/13/2022. He needs to get involved in ending these attacks and be exonerated.

To end these attacks, restore pain management, and provide compensation to all the families that have been destroyed by government overreach, we must get the Controlled Substance Act repealed.  Join Doctorsofcourage to get that done. Learn what we teach and spread the word.  NO DRUG CAUSES ADDICTION!! Let’s end the War on Drugs, Doctors and Pain Patients, end the black market, solve the southern border crisis, and restore proper pain management.  It CAN be done!                                   

Addendum:

I have failed in my mission to end these attacks on doctors and pain patients. Through John Bevere’s book The Bait of Satan, I have figured out why—my lack of forgiveness to those who attacked me. As in Mark 11: 24-26:

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.

And when you do not do the will of the Father, you are estranged from him and he will ignore you.  So we all must forgive the agents who attacked us in order for things to be made right through any of our works.

Jesus said

“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”

But we cannot lay down our lives for God unless we know Him well enough to trust Him. We must have the assurance that He would never do anything to harm us. He always looks out for what He knows is in our best interest. As a nation, those of us suffering from these attacks must understand that we are serving as God’s messengers of love.  We must forgive those who persecute us and love them instead, following God’s will for us. Then and only then will we see fruits from our labor.

So I hope that everyone who has suffered from what happened to Dr. Jabbour can trust the Lord, forgive those who have hurt you, and help bring this country back to the God-fearing country that our forefathers founded. Then, and only then, can you be a part of the effort to stop these attacks. I look forward to that day.