On June 27, 2022, the United States Supreme Court clarified the “knowingly or intentionally” standard for criminal prosecutions against doctors accused of overprescribing addictive medications in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. In Ruan v. United States and Kahn v. United States, federal prosecutors accused two licensed doctors of illegally prescribing large volumes of opioid painkillers to patients. The cases arose under 21 U.S.C. § 841, which makes it a crime: (1) except as authorized; (2) knowingly or intentionally; (3) to manufacture, distribute, or dispense… a controlled substance. For background, the prosecution must prove that the defendant “knowingly” broke the… Read more
See all blog posts
