Ferndale Doctor Gets 66 Months in Prison, Loses License After Drug Conviction
(Compiled, March 16, 2015)
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) has immediately suspended the license to practice medicine of Joel Adrian Milliner, M.D., based on his conviction in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.
On January 22, 2015, Milliner was convicted of one count of Distribution of Controlled Substances, a felony. Milliner was sentenced to serve 66 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay an assessment of $100.00.
On March 4, 2015, LARA issued an order summarily suspending Milliner’s license pursuant to the Public Health Code, which provides for the mandatory summary suspension of a health professional’s license upon the conviction of a felony, a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment for a maximum term of two years, or a misdemeanor involving the illegal delivery, possession, or use of a controlled substance.
According to a Detroit Free Press report, Milliner pled guilty in 2014 to having written prescriptions for Opana, Oxycontin, and Roxicodone that he knew would be used illicitly. He admitted that the unnecessary prescriptions would be reimbursed by Medicare.
US District Attorney Barb McQuade said in a statement following the plea “Diversion of prescription drugs causes significant harm. The number of fatal overdoses from prescription drugs in the United States last year was more than six times the number of fatal overdoses from all other illegal drugs combined.”