Williamson, West Virginia, a small town of 3,000 souls in the u.s. State that is affected by the highest rate of overdose. A town heavily impacted by the closure of a coal mine nearby and where many people are addicted to painkillers. This is where, at the turn of the century, moved Katherine Hoover, a doctor particularly generous with its provisions, explained in an article by NBC News relayed by Slate.
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Well, between December 2002 and January 2010, it has signed no less than 335 000 prescriptions. Nearly 130 per day on average. A total of more than all the other doctors in the State. Another figure makes us aware of the magnitude of the phenomenon. It is the one of the amount of pills of Hydrocone and Oxycodone elapsed between 2002 and 2010 : 20.8 million.
Party in the Bahamas
The FBI is interested in these figures and now considers that Katherine Hoover and the clinic in which she worked have taken advantage of the addiction of the people. The first prescription would cost $ 450 in cash and he then had to count on $ 150 to get a renewal. Sums which do not discourage not the people, ready to line up at 6 in the morning. The clinic would have earned $ 4.6 million in 2009 with this system. At the same time, the city was nicknamed “Pilliamson” (the pill is called “pill” in English), attracting people willing to do several hours on the road to a prescription easy.
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Several doctors of the clinic have been sentenced to justice. Katherine Hoover denies all charges. “I’ve prescribed narcotics to people who were hurting. I’ve done everything that I could to help them have a better life. “To escape the FBI investigation, she still preferred to go and settle in the Bahamas with her husband to create a… resort nudist.
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