12 million pills and 700 deaths: How a few pill mills helped fan the US opioid inferno
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Soon after he took over as medical director of the Urgent Care & Surgery Center in eastern Tennessee in 2012, Dr. Marc Valley realized he was supervising illegal drug dealers in lab coats.
Platoons of patients socialized in the parking lot, none seemingly afflicted by injuries. The packed waiting room echoed with chatter about how and where to score painkillers known as opioids.
Valley discovered that clinic staff were barely vetting patients. Some charts didn't even include a diagnosis or pain level, yet patients all seemed to receive the same dosage of powerful opioids.
He worried that dozens risked dying from overdoses. He complained to management and tried to rein in the malpractice. But the operators ignored him. Their only concern, he said, was the money pouring in.
He quit after three months, convinced he was running an illicit pill mill, not a legitimate clinic.
"It was so very sad," recalled Valley, now 60. "I knew it was wrong, and
