Southeast Missouri healthcare system reaches settlement over opioid prescriptions

A southeast Missouri healthcare system has reached a civil settlement with the U.S. government in a case involving opioid drug prescriptions.

Federal Prosecutors had alleged that St. Francis Medical Center had employed Brett Dickinson, a physician who wrote prescriptions without legitimate medical purposes.

St. Francis agreed to to pay just over $1,600,000 to settle the case.

The government said Dr. Dickinson had written numerous prescriptions for opiods and had ignored warning signs of misus and had ignored results of failed urine tests given to patients.

St. Francis also agreed to spend $1 million  to fund education programs for physicians and other healthcare professionals in Southeast Missouri on best practices in prescribing opioids and managing patients with chronic pain issues.