West Hollywood doctor pleads not guilty to drug charges
A West Hollywood doctor pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges of illegally prescribing powerful painkillers to patients, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles
James William Eisenberg, 72, is accused of writing more than 1,200 prescriptions for addictive painkillers after the Drug Enforcement Administration revoked his authority to prescribe controlled substances.
Eisenberg’s bail was set at $200,000, with home detention ordered, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
He is charged with four counts of using a revoked DEA registration number and three counts of distribution of hydrocodone.
In December 2011, a DEA administrative judge said Eisenberg acted as a “drug dealer” and suspended his registration number. The DEA permanently revoked Eisenberg’s authority to prescribe controlled substances in July 2012, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
He allegedly continued to write prescriptions for controlled substances out of multiple medical offices in West Hollywood, including a Santa Monica Boulevard office called Pacific Support Services, authorities alleged in court papers.
When one West Hollywood pharmacist refused to fill a prescription from Eisenberg for hydrocodone and alprazolam in June 2012, Eisenberg allegedly asked the pharmacist to make an “exception” and to fill the prescription, according to the affidavit.
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