Doctor faces prison time for trading drugs for sex

L.L. Brasier | The Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Mich.

A Michigan doctor who prosecutors allege got at least two patients addicted to prescription drugs and then demanded they have sex with him to get refills, faces at least five years in prison when he is sentenced Wednesday.

Dr. John Verbovsky, 67, was originally charged with 14 criminal counts, including rape. But in a plea agreement reached earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to one count of running a criminal enterprise, two counts of medical fraud and two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fourth degree, an admission that he coerced two of his women patients into having sex. Those crimes are five-year, 15-year and 20-year felonies.

Verbovsky, an osteopathic physician, ran the Progressive Family Medicine clinic in Sterling Heights, and the Stout Family Medicine clinic in Detroit.

Investigators say he prescribed highly addictive drugs to at least two of his patients — and perhaps more — and that once they became dependent upon the drugs, he demanded sexual acts and money in exchange for new prescriptions. He wrote prescriptions for pain medications, prosecutors said, without proof of a medical condition.

When investigators raided his office and confiscated his computers, they found one image of a woman, on her knees, bound and gagged.

The case was brought by the Michigan Attorney General's Office in February following a months-long investigation. A spokesperson from that office earlier this week did not provide details of the plea agreement but noted that in addition to the criminal case, Verbovsky's license to practice medicine in Michigan had been permanently revoked.

Verbovsky's attorney, Charles Perlos, also declined to discuss the plea arrangement, except to say, "My client made a decision, and we're moving ahead."

Verbovsky was taken into custody when he entered his plea on Sept. 3. He will be sentenced in Ingham County Circuit Court Sept. 30 at 1:15 p.m.