Miami Doctor Charged In Overdose Death, Drug Trafficking Appears Before Judge
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami doctor facing manslaughter charges in the overdose death of a Florida Keys woman made her first appearance in court.
48-year-old Dr. Marta Elena Farinas was charged in the death of a Key Largo patient.
That woman overdosed on oxycodone prescribed by Dr. Farinas.
The doctor operated out of Pinecrest Medical Group, often prescribing oxycodone to patients and then taking a cut of the pills for her own personal use.
According to police, "from June 2017 through Jaguar 2018, Dr. Farinas prescribed a total of 2,665 opioid pills. ...Dr. Farinas is an addict herself."
Farinas was also charged with conspiracy to traffic Oxycodone and delivery of Oxycodone.
Investigators said deputies found large amounts of prescription bottles and pills at Milazzo's home, including "evidence that Farinas was prescribing 180 Oxycodone pills a month to Milazzo on top of a litany of other prescription drugs."
On May 5th Dr. Farinas' boyfriend overdosed on Percocet that she had prescribed.
Police came to her home and found that Dr. Farinas appeared to be under the influence of a narcotic. Her boyfriend died later in the day.
Justin Miller, Intelligence Chief for the Miami office of the DEA says opioid deaths are down in the last several years due to public awareness, education and targeting criminals.
"There are a lot of rouge doctors and pharmacies out there who unfortunately providing medicines to people who don't have a medical necessity for it," said Miller. "We are targeting those doctors, those pharmacies involved in illegal distribution of drugs."