Texas Doctor Prescribed Illicit Drugs at ‘Shady’ Clinic as Dealers Supplied Patients, Will Now Serve Prison Time

A physician in the Southern District of Texas was convicted of unlawfully distributing more than 1 million pills of opioids and other dangerous controlled substances. The doctor was convicted on May 3, by a federal jury. The defendant distributed the pills through a Houston-area clinic, according to authorities.

The Texas physician has been identified as Barbara Marino, 65, of Tomball, who was convicted by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and four counts of distributing controlled substances.

According to court documents, Dr. Barbara Marino was the sole prescribing physician at Angels Clinica, a cash-only clinic in a Houston strip mall. The documents show that Angels Clinica was the location where Marino prescribed highly dangerous, addictive and commonly abused drugs, including oxycodone and hydrocodone and the muscle relaxer carisoprodol. The clinic, which Marino ran, was hidden in plain sight, behind mirrored windows at the Houston strip mall.

Many of the patients who received prescriptions from Marino were brought to the clinic by street-level drug dealers, often known as “crew leaders” or “runners.” These dealers brought the patients to Marino for prescriptions, then filled those prescriptions at the Houston-area pharmacies and then sold the pills on the street. The clinic charged patients based on which drug Marino would prescribe them.

In less than a year, Marino received $400,000 from Angels Clinica’s owner for writing prescriptions that lacked a legitimate medical purpose and were outside the usual course of professional medical practice.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division said, “Medical physicians who exploit their prescribing authority for profit over patient care break an inherent trust with their patients, and we will hold them accountable,” McDonald said.

“The Department of Justice remains committed to protecting the public from dangerous and unlawful distribution of controlled substances, especially when the drug dealer is a doctor."

One of Marino’s patients was a woman in her third trimester of pregnancy. Marino prescribed the patient a dangerous cocktail of drugs, including hydrocodone and carisoprodol. The patient’s OB/GYN testified at the trial about how dangerous the drugs were for both the woman and her unborn child. The prosecutor said in court that the pregnant woman missed the appointment with her OB/GYN to go to the drug dealer.

Another patient who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia went to Marino. His mother testified that the man often claimed to be the former President Richard Nixon. Nonetheless, Marino prescribed him hydrocodone and a coma cocktail at least three times.

The jury convicted Marino of one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and four counts of distributing controlled substances. She is facing a prison term of at least 20 years for each count.