Gray doctor accused of running opioid pill mill as part of huge national crackdown

The federal raid of a Jones County doctor's office this week was part of a massive national crackdown on illegal opioid prescriptions and Medicare fraud.

Dr. Thomas H. Sachy of Gray could face life in prison if convicted of two counts of unlawfully dispensing controlled substances resulting in death and serious bodily injury.

Sachy, 54, who runs the Georgia Pain and Behavioral Medicine clinic at 247 Lana Drive, was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to distribute and dispense controlled substances. His mother, Maureen Sachy, 79, was also arrested, as were Evelyne Ennis, 51, and 39-year-old Brandy Hamilton, who also goes by Brandy Birchfield, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The indictment accuses the clinic of unlawfully dispensing drugs for no legitimate medical purpose and outside the usual course of a professional practice.

The indictment accuses Dr. Sachy of prescribing oxycodone and fentanyl to a person, identified only by the initials W.G.D., who died from cardiomyopathy after taking the drugs. The medicines were prescribed sometime between March 29, 2017, and April 1, 2017, according to the indictment.

The Sachys also are charged with maintaining a drug-involved premises and with a money-laundering conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Charles E. Peeler stated in the release that his office will "vigorously prosecute" medical professionals and anyone else illegally dispensing dangerous medications.

"Dispensing opioids beyond what is medically necessary is not only unlawful but has greatly contributed to what has been termed an opioid epidemic in our country," Peeler stated in the news release.

Johnny Pannell, Dr. Sachy's attorney, said Friday that his client is not guilty on all charges.

"There are a lot of enemies of Sachy in high places," Pannell said. "He testified at more than one case that federal authorities were prosecuting in favor of the defense. ... Part of his work was, in the past, an expert witness, especially for people charged with death cases, including doctors that were charged with death cases."

Pannell said Sachy "doesn't treat drug addicts" and thoroughly studies the history of his patients before treating them. Sachy randomly tests his patients for drug use and calls them in for "pill counts" to make sure they are taking the medications as prescribed, Pannell said.

A detention hearing for Dr. Sachy is expected Monday. Peeler said he would make a statement to the press after the hearing.

Dr. Sachy has been practicing medicine since 1997.

The U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday that the Jones County case is part of a National Health Care Fraud and Opioid Takedown and was investigated by the Atlanta and Macon offices of the Drug Enforcement Agency, with help from the GBI, Georgia Drug and Narcotic Agency and Department of Community Supervision.

In Georgia, the investigation uncovered more than $13.5 million in fraudulent billings and resulted in charges for a dozen people, including two doctors, in nine alleged schemes involving health-care fraud and drug diversion.

The national crackdown charged 601 people in 58 federal districts in the nation's largest health-care fraud enforcement involving more than $2 billion in false billings, the release stated.

Of those charged, 162 people, including 76 physicians across the country, were charged for their roles in prescribing dangerous narcotics, including 84 opioid cases involving more than 13 million illegal doses of the potentially deadly drug, the release stated.

Anyone with additional information about Sachy's office or any pharmaceutical drug abuse is urged to call the DEA hotline at 1-877-RxAbuse.

Telegraph reporter Laura Corley contributed to this article.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 7:26 AM.