Former Mt. Holly doctor gets 36 months after trading prescriptions for sex

MT. HOLLY, NC (WBTV) - A Mt. Holly doctor now faces 36 months in prison after pleading guilty to drug distribution, health care fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.

Dr. Michael Alson Smith, 65, will also have to complete two years of supervised released and pay a $3,562.29 restitution. The former doctor admitted to prescribing pain medication to female patients in exchange for sex acts in federal court back in 2018. Smith threatened to stop treating another patient for pain management when she refused his sexual advances and prescribed the victim medication “without performing any medical examination,” according to court documents.

According to court documents, from at least January 2017 to October 2017, Dr. Smith began to solicit sexual encounters from female patients who he treated for pain management and/or substance abuse.

In exchange for the encounters, Dr. Smith prescribed to those patients Schedule II, III, and IV controlled substances, including Percocet and Clonazepam (also known as Klonopin), among others.

Dr. Smith who owned and operated Mt. Holly Family Practice, Inc. admitted during that time, he had sexual encounters with at least seven female patients.

In addition to practicing family medicine, Dr. Smith had sought and received approval from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to operate an office-based opioid treatment program, and treated a large number of patients with pain management and substance abuse issues.

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