The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled in favor of two doctors challenging convictions on drug distribution charges for over-prescribing controlled opioids on the rationale that their actions may have been in “good faith.”
The justices ruled 9–0 on June 27 (pdf), siding with Dr. Xiulu Ruan and Dr. Shakeel Khan.
Justice Stephen Breyer argued that their trials were unfair because jurors were not required to consider whether the two convicted doctors had “good faith” reasons to prescribe numerous off-label opioid prescriptions.
Both doctors were registered under the Controlled Substances Act, allowing them to prescribe controlled substances to patients.
However, prosecutors at their trials argued that the prescriptions were unauthorized, meaning the drugs were prescribed not for a legitimate, medical reason….