The DOJ announced that Jeffrey W. Young Jr., a Tennessee nurse practitioner known as the “Rock Doc,” has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for illegally prescribing opioids.
Young, along with two doctors, was indicted in April 2019 for allegedly prescribing over one million opioids. In April 2023, Young was convicted of conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances, maintaining a drug-involved premises, and thirteen counts of distributing controlled substances. Six counts of distributing controlled substances involved distribution to a pregnant woman. According to evidence presented at trial, Young maintained a “party-like” atmosphere at his medical practice—Preventagenix. Young engaged in inappropriate physical relationships with patients he prescribed opioids to, including a pregnant woman. Young engaged in the foregoing practices in part to boost his social media persona as the “Rock Doc” and promote a self-produced reality TV show. Evidence presented at trial showed that Young prescribed more than 100,000 doses of hydrocodone, oxycodone, and fentanyl to the Jackson, Tennessee community.
The doctors who were indicted with Young, Dr. Andrew Rudin and Dr. Alexander Alperovich, previously pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement in connection with a health care matter. Both doctors acted as Young’s supervising physician. Rudin was sentenced to twelve months and one day in federal prison and two years of supervised release. Alperovich was sentenced to two years of probation, and he also served as a witness for the government during Young’s trial. When Young’s sentence was announced, U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz for the Western District of Tennessee commented that “[t]his sentence sends a strong message that healthcare professionals who prey on those who suffer from addiction are no better than street corner drug dealers — and that our office and law enforcement partners will hold them just as accountable for their crimes.”
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