Doctor OK’d pot for patients after chats on closed-circuit TV, cops say

For $300 and in fewer than two minutes, a doctor at a Pembroke Pines clinic granted patients medical marijuana cards without meeting them in person, conducting physical exams or requiring a debilitating medical condition, police say.

Tommy Louisville evaluated patients who came to Miracle Leaf Health Center via closed-circuit TV. In one instance, the doctor interviewed a patient via cellphone and a Bluetooth earpiece while waiting for a train. In another, Louisville approved a prescription in fewer than 90 seconds for a patient who said his employer drug-tested him and he needed an excuse for his positive cannabis results, police said.

Louisville, of Miami, was arrested on Thursday and had his medical license restricted in what state prosecutors believe is the first case of its kind in Florida.

The 66-year-old was taken to the Broward Main Jail. He faces two misdemeanor counts of unlawful issuance of a medical marijuana certification. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 364 days in county jail.

“Dr. Louisville approved and entered several patients into the Medical Marijuana Registry, who were not qualified and did not meet the standards set by the state of Florida,” police said.

Louisville was state-certified to approve and prescribe medical marijuana, records show. And the clinic, at 1341 N. Palm Ave. in Pembroke Pines, advertised on-scene medical evaluations and same-day approval into the state’s medical marijuana registry.

What Louisville didn’t realize was that two of the patients who visited him in August were undercover detectives acting on complaints of suspicious activity. Pembroke Pines police, along with the state Department of Health, had launched an investigation in June.

Each time, the appointment played out the same way. A receptionist would guide the patient to a backroom and seat him at a computer monitor connected to a cellphone. Louisville would come on screen, have a brief exchange with the patient and approve the request for a medical marijuana card, according to a police report.

One of the detectives told Louisville he sought medical marijuana because he wanted to get off the pain pills he had been taking for six years to quash back spasms and neck and back pain from a car accident. Louisville made the approval without inquiring further about the patient’s use of controlled substances, police said.

Louisville appears to be the first Florida doctor charged with illegally prescribing medical marijuana since voters legalized it in 2016, prosecutors said.

“I don’t know if it was anticipated but I don’t think it was a surprise,” said Tim Donnelly, assistant state attorney in charge of Broward County’s special prosecutions unit. Hopefully, Louisville’s arrest would be a deterrent to unscrupulous doctors, he said.

“You don’t want the arrest of one doctor like this to be a deterrent to the people who need the medical marijuana,” he said. “We just want people to follow the rules.”

State law that governs medical marijuana requires doctors to be physically present when they evaluate patients, conduct a physical exam, inquire about patients’ prescription-drug and medical histories and ensure that patients have been diagnosed with “debilitating medical conditions” that qualify them for use of the highly regulated herbal medicine.

Among the qualifying conditions are cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, an HIV-positive diagnosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

In a double whammy for Louisville, Florida’s surgeon general on Thursday ordered an emergency restriction of his medical license on the grounds that he conducted “sham exams” to illegally prescribe medical marijuana, documents show. The restriction prohibits Louisville from prescribing medical marijuana or adding patients to the state’s registry.

Evidence shows “that Dr. Louisville is incapable of, and unwilling to, order medical marijuana under the confines of state law,” Celeste Philip, Florida’s surgeon general and secretary, wrote in her order. “His continued, unrestricted practice of medicine poses an immediate serious danger to the public health, safety and welfare.”

Louisville has been licensed to practice medicine in Florida since December 1980. He is also licensed in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, records show.

The state Department of Health will proceed with its own investigation and take administrative action.

.ss-blurb-fblike{
padding-left:10px;
}
.ss-blurb-fblike-heading {
font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;
font-weight: bold;
}