Clairemont Doctor Arrested in Drug Raid on His Office

A Clairemont doctor has been arrested in a raid on his office by state and federal authorities.

Dr. Emanuel Brantz was taken into custody Thursday on 22 felony counts involving the sale, possession and dispensing of a controlled substance without medical need, said Philip Donohue, special agent in charge of the state’s Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

Brantz, 61, was booked into County Jail and released Thursday night after posting bail, Donohue said. No other arrests were made in the raid.

Attempts to reach Brantz for comment were unsuccessful.

Brantz’s office in the 3900 block of Clairemont Drive was the subject of an investigation that began in January, authorities said. Authorities with the state Board of Medical Quality Assurance, the licensing board for physicians, and the Drug Enforcement Administration were also involved.

Former patients, a pharmaceutical supply company and other physicians had alerted authorities that Brantz, a general practitioner, had been over-prescribing medication, Donohue said.

“The pharmaceutical supply house let us know that he was buying extremely high quantities,” Donohue said.

Undercover agents made seven purchases at the office and observed how the practice was conducted, Donohue said.

Most of those entering the office were not given medical exams, Donohue said.

“The exams that we did see were so cursory that we could not consider them a medical exam,” Donohue said. “They were usually done by office staff and not a doctor.”

People would enter the office, be seated and be handed pills when their names were called by staff members, Donohue said.

Neither the patients nor staff members are likely to be the subject of further investigation, Donohue said.

“The problem with the staff is that they were doing it under orders,” Donohue said. “We can’t prove anything else.”

Some of the patients might have been there for legitimate medical reasons, Donohue said. At least one former patient of Brantz has told authorities that the medication she was given had actually complicated her condition.

Most of the pills were stimulant amphetamines, primarily phendimetrazine tartrate and phentermine. More than 100,000 pills were found at the office, Donohue said.

The state medical quality board will probably wait to see how criminal proceedings develop against Brantz before deciding what administrative action to take, said Vern Leeper, the board’s chief enforcement officer.

The maximum administrative penalty Brantz faces is revocation of his license, Leeper said.

Brantz will be arraigned on the criminal charges Thursday.

Brantz’s prescription practices were the subject of a medical quality board investigation in 1975, and DEA and state Department of Justice investigations in 1980. He was never charged as a result of those investigations, Donohue said.