Tennessee nurse practitioner illegally prescribed opioids to ‘obtain notoriety, status, sex, and money’

Tennessee nurse practitioner illegally prescribed opioids to ‘obtain notoriety, status, sex, and money’

A former nurse practitioner illegally prescribed opioid pills, including fentanyl and oxycodone, for purposes outside of valid medical reasons — such as to have sex with female patients, promote his TV show and make money, according to federal prosecutors.

Now Jeffrey Young, 49, of Jackson, Tennessee, is facing up to decades in prison after using his medical practice Preventagenix in Tennessee to do so, officials said.

“Young maintained a party-like atmosphere at his clinic, and prescribed these drugs at least in part to boost his popularity on social media and promote a self-produced reality TV show pilot based on his self-identified persona, the ‘Rock Doc,’” the Justice Department said in an April 3 news release.

A jury convicted Young of a conspiracy to unlawfully distribute controlled substances, maintaining a drug-involved premises and 13 counts of distributing controlled substances, officials said.

A pregnant woman was among hundreds of patients Young illegally prescribed drugs to, according to prosecutors. Young was convicted of six charges related to giving hydrocodone, oxycodone and alprazolam to this patient, officials said.

Her baby was born with an addiction to opioids as a result, according to an indictment.

McClatchy News contacted Young’s attorneys for comment on April 3 and didn’t immediately receive a response.

‘A show about a man that loves his job, his family, and his patients.’

Young illegally prescribed over one million pills to “obtain notoriety, status, sex, and money” from July 2014 through January 2017, according to an indictment.

Sometimes, he treated patients while intoxicated from alcohol, high on marijuana or after using other controlled substances, the indictment says.

In addition to patients, he’d also prescribe substances to family and friends, according to prosecutors.

Young “used his power to prescribe controlled substances to promote his television pilot and his podcast,” the indictment says.

He posted three videos to his YouTube channel for “The Rock Doc TV Show” in 2016.

In one video that opens with rock ‘n’ roll music blasting in the background, he describes himself as the founder, owner and “president” of Preventagenix, which he says focuses on preventative medicine.

Another video has a caption describing his show that reads: “A show about a man that loves his job, his family, and his patients. That about sums it up. #RockdocTV #Hatersgonnahate #Doc.”

In this video, Young is seen saying, “We don’t wanna see you just when you’re sick…I’d rather see you when you’re healthy to keep you healthy and to keep you well and functioning at the optimal you.”

Young continually prescribed drugs while ignoring serious risks, including the potential for overdoses, drug abuse and death, according to the indictment.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3, prosecutors said.

His conviction comes after an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation with help from the Jackson Police Department, according to the release.

©2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.