FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 4, 2012
CABELL COUNTY DOCTOR CHARGED WITH FEDERAL PRESCRIPTION FRAUD
State Osteopathic Board Found Doctor Caused or Contributed to 11 Deaths
CHARLESTON, W.Va. –United States Attorney Booth Goodwin today charged a Cabell County doctor with violating federal drug control laws. Dr. Anita Dawson, 55, of Milton, W.Va., was charged with aiding and abetting in obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, and subterfuge. Dawson was charged in a legal filing known as an information, which typically signals that a defendant has agreed to plead guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Dawson’s medical license was suspended by the West Virginia Board of Osteopathy in April 2010, on the same day federal and state investigators executed a search warrant at her Milton office. According to the Board, Dawson caused or contributed to eight drug overdose deaths, as well as an April 2009 car crash that killed a Barboursville woman and two teenage girls. Following the search and the suspension of her medical license, Dawson voluntarily gave up her license permanently.
Dawson faces up to four years in federal prison as a result of the charge filed by Goodwin. No court date has been set.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General,and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the West Virginia State Police and the Cabell County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Steven Loew is in charge of the prosecution.
PLEASE NOTE: The charge contained in the information is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
