FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — A Florence County doctor facing charges in what authorities called a “sex for scripts” scheme was sentenced Wednesday to nearly five years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Carlos David Rodriguez Jr., 50, pleaded guilty to distributing oxycodone outside the scope of medical practice and without a legitimate medical purpose. He was sentenced to 57 months in prison followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.
Evidence showed Rodriguez provided 15 subscriptions for oxycodone over an eight-month period to a patient who “felt pressured to engage in sexual activity” with him to obtain the pills, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Rodriguez distributed more than 600 oxycodone pills in total during the eight months.
“At one point, one of the prescriptions Rodriguez had written the patient was rejected by a pharmacy because the patient was taking suboxone, and a patient should not be taking both suboxone and oxycodone,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “When Rodriguez was notified of the pharmacy’s refusal to fill the oxycodone prescription, he responded by requesting the patient send him pictures of various body parts. He then sent a new oxycodone prescription to a different pharmacy.”
