Excessive' prescriptions raised red flag on Sacramento jail medical director

Writing prescriptions was outside the scope of Dr. Peter Dietrich's work as medical director of the Sacramento County jail system, according to a Sheriff's Department official.

And yet Dietrich was writing so many for OxyContin – an "excessive" amount, said a state narcotics authority – that a database tracking controlled substances flagged him, officials said Thursday.

Dietrich, 51, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of writing unauthorized prescriptions, fraudulently obtaining controlled substances and illegally possessing them, according to Special Agent Michelle Gregory, a spokeswoman for the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

Sheriff's officials removed him from his position supervising the medical care of county inmates after his arrest, said department spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran.

Dietrich, who has served as medical director since July 2007, will remain on paid administrative leave until internal investigators determine whether he violated any department policies or procedures, Curran said.

That investigation will be independent of, and concurrent to, the BNE's criminal investigation.

Curran said Dietrich's position was supervisorial in nature. He was not directly involved with individual inmates' care, Curran said, nor was writing prescriptions part of his job description.

Officials have not said how many fraudulent prescriptions Dietrich wrote or how much OxyContin was found in his possession. On Thursday, however, Gregory said the doctor was writing an "excessive amount" – some of them for himself, and some for another person whose identity has not yet been confirmed.

Gregory said investigators have found no evidence of trafficking and believe he was using the potent drug himself. She added, though, that officials have not yet ruled out the possibility that Dietrich was giving it away.

Dietrich, reached by telephone, declined to comment. He was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on Wednesday and released after posting $5,000 bail.

OxyContin is a highly addictive drug used to alleviate moderate to high pain, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Introduced in 1996, it didn't become a problem for law enforcement until recent years, said BNE Special Agent Holly Swartz.

"It's definitely rising," Swartz said of OxyContin abuse. "We're seeing much more of it."

Just a few years ago, 1 milligram of OxyContin sold for an average price of $1 in the black market, Swartz said. The price has dropped to about 50 cents – a flooded market means lower prices, she said.

The drug is typically sold in a timed-release form. But crushed up and snorted or mixed for injection, the drug delivers an immediate high, Swartz said. She likened the effects to those of heroin.

Oftentimes, OxyContin addictions stem from legitimate use. But when dependence grows, "it gets out of control," Swartz said.

Abusers don't fit many of the profiles of typical drug users, she said. Many are "high-functioning addicts" who live otherwise normal lives.

"They're people like you and me," Swartz said.