Nurse Faces Prison Time For Illegally Prescribing Oxycodone

Bowie MD

12 January, 2022

2:25 PM

Description

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — A Bowie nurse has pleaded guilty to charges she wrote prescriptions for the addictive painkiller oxycodone and allowed unauthorized people to hand out prescriptions in her name, according to prosecutors. According to 53-year-old Justina Aburime's guilty plea, from February 2017 to February 2020, Aburime conspired with others, including Thomas Charles Johnson, to distribute and dispense oxycodone outside the scope of professional practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose at Personal Touch Medical Spa, LLP, a Largo pain management clinic. As licensed and registered nurse practitioners under the Drug Enforcement Administration and the state of Maryland, Aburime and Johnson were legally authorized to prescribe controlled substances for legitimate medical purposes. During her employment with PTMS, Aburime wrote oxycodone prescriptions without a legitimate medical need and outside the scope of professional practice. Aburime allowed PTMS's owner — who was not authorized to prescribe controlled substances — to prescribe the addictive painkiller to people using presigned blank prescriptions bearing Aburime's name and DEA registration number. In some instances, Aburime was traveling outside the United States at the time of treatment or did not see the patient who was prescribed oxycodone using her credentials. She also admitted that she prescribed oxycodone to patients when there was no legitimate need and without considering alternative treatment options, and that she increased oxycodone dosage over time without a medical justification. Co-defendant Thomas Charles Johnson Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone on Oct. 28, 2021, and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 17. Aburime faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison followed by up to a lifetime of supervised release for each count. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has scheduled sentencing for April 26 at 1 p.m.