More than a dozen doctors and medical professionals have been charged with operating a pill mill that unlawfully provided opioids to hundreds of patients in the Philadelphia region, federal officials announced Wednesday. Some of the pills were sold, and others were given for sexual favors, authorities allege in two indictments.



United States Attorney William M. McSwain said 14 have been charged with various drug-related crimes after nearly 3,700 illegal prescriptions were written by a single business. Three Mongomery County residents have been charged, including a doctor from Penn Valley and two from Elkins Park.

Thirteen of those charged were employed at Advanced Urgent Care (AUC), a medical business with office locations in Philadelphia, Montgomeryville, and Willow Grove owned and operated by Dr. Mehdi Nikparvar-Fard. Additionally, a Philadelphia doctor who allegedly conspired with a AUC doctor is also charged by indictment. Federal authorities contend that AUC medical providers unlawfully prescribed opioid painkillers "on a daily basis" from January 2014 through August 2017 and routinely ignored warning signs that patients were abusing or selling their prescription painkillers.

Authorities allege that AUC doctors and physician's assistants offered the public a "pain management" program that enabled them to obtain opioid painkillers for an office fee that ranged from $80 to $140. Patients participating in the "pain management" program displayed a variety of warning signs that should have alerted doctors something was amiss, the US Attorney said.

Those warning signs included urine drug screens that were positive for illicit drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine, urine drug screens that were positive for Suboxone (a drug used to treat opiate addiction), and urine drug screens that were negative for all drugs, suggesting the patients may have been selling their prescription pills, the indictment said.

AUC medical providers nonetheless prescribed "enormous" quantities of opioid painkillers — at least 3,678 illegal prescriptions were issued by AUC's doctors and physician's assistants, the indictment said.

Charged are: Dr. Mehdi Nikparvar-Fard, 49, of Penn Valley

Dr. Vincent Thompson, 70, of Elkins Park

Dr. Loretta Brown, 65, of Landsowne

Dr. Avrom Brown, 70, of Elkins Park

Dr. Frederick Reichle, 83, of Warrington

Dr. Marcus Rey Williams, 70, of Coatesville

Dr. William Demedio, 58, of Springfield

Dr. Neil Cutler, 77, of Warminster

Mitchell White, 33, of Philadelphia (Physician's Assistant)

Jason Dillinger, 40, of West Chester (Physician's Assistant)

Debra Cortez, 56, of Bristol (Physician's Assistant)

Samantha Hollis, 42, of Wilmington, Delaware (Physician's Assistant)

Joanne Rivera, 35, of Pennsauken, New Jersey (Office Manager) Each defendant is charged with maintaining a drug-involved premises, and five defendants (Nikparvar-Fard, Rivera, Dillinger, Thompson, and White) are charged with conspiring to unlawfully distribute controlled substances.