Newport Coast Doctor Faces Trial for Selling Painkillers

A Newport Coast resident who practices medicine in Downey and the Westlake District is scheduled to appear in court today in Los Angeles to face charges he conspired to distribute painkillers to patients he never examined in exchange for cash.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Nazar Al Bussam, 71, was arrested in October at his Downey clinic by special agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Federal prosecutors allege he was raking in more than $100,000 a month prescribing drugs outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose.

Al Bussam is facing a charge of engaging in a criminal conspiracy to
distribute drugs. If convicted, he could spend up to 20 years behind
bars.

According to the criminal complaint, the drugs involved in the case are oxycodone, which is best known by its brand name, OxyContin; oxycodone/APAP,which is sold under the brand names Percocet and Percodan; hydromorphone, which is sold under the brand name, Dilaudid; hydrocodone, commonly sold under the brand names Vicodin, Norco and Lortab; and alprazolam, which is marketed under
the brand name Xanax.

Also listed in the charges are the drugs promethazine with codeine,
which is used to make a deadly street concoction variously known as Sizzurp,"purple drank'' or "lean''; buprenorphine, which is sold under the brand names Suboxone and Subutex; and carisoprodol, which is sold under the brand name Soma.
   
The DEA estimates that during a recent two-year period, Al Bussam wrote nearly 60,000 prescriptions for narcotics, with most of the prescriptions being used to obtain hydrocodone and Xanax.

According to court documents, Al Bussam caught the DEA's attention in 2007 when a review of the federal agency's databases indicated the physician was among the top 10 prescribers of controlled substances in the Los Angeles area. In addition, several pharmacies had contacted the DEA regarding Al Bussam's unusual and allegedly suspicious prescribing practices, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The affidavit in the case notes that several of Al Bussam's "patients''
have been arrested in California and Texas for illegally selling drugs
prescribed by the doctor. Undercover operatives went to Al Bussam's clinic, saw the doctor and purchased prescriptions for various controlled substances, paying $100 in cash for each prescription, prosecutors allege.

After reviewing records related to prescriptions he wrote, the DEA
estimates that Al Bussam in recent years has received more than $100,000 in gross earnings per month, or well more than $1 million per year.

City News Service contributed to this report.