Psychiatrist Richard Farmer

Washington Post
A psychiatrist was found guilty of distributing 1,200 painkillers after opioid task force bust
By Kim Bellware
February 24, 2020

— Excerpt

A Tennessee psychiatrist who prescribed more than 1,200 pills to three sisters in three years was found guilty in federal court Friday of distributing powerful opioid painkillers without a “legitimate medical purpose,” according to a statement from the Justice Department.

The verdict against Richard Farmer, 83, marks the first conviction for a federal task force formed in 2018 to crack down on illegal opioid prescriptions in the Appalachian region amid the federal government’s sometimes-controversial effort to stem the opioid epidemic through prosecution…