CINCINNATI (AP) — An ex-doctor is scheduled to change his plea to charges that he conspired to illegally distribute controlled substances at Ohio pain medication clinics.
An indictment last year against Mark Fantauzzi (fan-TOW'-zee) and six others alleged that dozens of customers a week would travel hundreds of miles to visit the clinics in southern and central Ohio and pay $200 per visit for painkillers.
The indictment said prescriptions were written without meaningful physical exams and contributed to the deaths of at least two patients.
Fantauzzi's change of plea hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in federal court in Cincinnati. A plea change hearing typically means a defendant will plead guilty.
State medical board records say Fantauzzi's medical license was permanently revoked in 2011. His attorney, Ransom Hudson, has declined comment.
