FAYETTEVILLE -- A Rogers doctor pleaded guilty in federal court to over-prescribing opiates.
Dr. Robin Ann Cox pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of prescribing without a legitimate medical purpose outside the scope of a professional practice.
According to the plea agreement, Cox was employed by the Arkansas Medical Clinic in Rogers. The Drug Enforcement Administration started investigating the clinic in 2019 and found Cox had written at least one prescription in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant.
The investigation analyzed her prescribing habits from when the clinic opened in May 2018 through the middle of September 2019.
Cox prescribed 214,050 tablets of oxycodone, with a street value of about $3.2 million, during that time period. Investigators discovered about 90% of the patients to whom Cox prescribed controlled substances during that time received a prescription for at least one type of opioid.
Cox will be sentenced at a later date, typically the process takes about three months.
Cox's arrest was part of a statewide effort last year to prosecute doctors accused of overprescribing opioids, according to federal prosecutors.
The Arkansas State Medical Board voted unanimously to suspend Cox's medical license in an emergency order issued in October.
The board in 1994 found Cox had been practicing medicine without a license. The board voted to issue her a temporary license with the intention of issuing her a permanent one after one year, if her performance was deemed satisfactory. She was granted a permanent license in 1995.
Cox also had been licensed in Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska and New Mexico, but those have since expired, according to state records.
Cox graduated from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences with a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree in September 1982, a spokeswoman for the school confirmed.
NW News on 05/07/2020