Richard Miron, accused of illegally prescribing opioids that led to a patient’s death, has pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in what is believed to be the first conviction of its kind in Massachusetts.
Miron, 83, was the largest prescriber of high-dose, short-acting oxycodone among all MassHealth providers in the state between September 2015 and February 2016, according to the Attorney General’s Office. At the time, he was a solo internal medicine practitioner based in Dracut.
After a series of guilty pleas on November 17 in Middlesex County Superior Court, Miron was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, all suspended for five years, and was ordered not to practice medicine.
Miron was indicted in 2018 in connection with the death of Michelle Craib, 50, who died on March 17, 2016. Prosecutors said the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined her death was caused by acute intoxication from fentanyl, morphine, codeine, and butalbital — all prescribed by Miron.
Court records show Miron knew Craib had previously overdosed on opioids he prescribed, yet he continued prescribing large doses in the weeks leading up to her death. Craib had been discharged from Lowell General Hospital on February 2, 2016, after an overdose, just over a month before she died. She was found dead in her apartment in mid-March. Her obituary noted she was survived by two sons, a granddaughter, and other family members, with a celebration of life held in Tyngsboro.
The Attorney General’s investigation, led at the time by now-Governor Maura Healey, found that Miron had also prescribed opioids — including oxycodone, morphine, fentanyl, and hydromorphone — to other patients with no legitimate medical reason, including those with documented substance use disorders. These illegal prescriptions caused pharmacies to falsely bill MassHealth. Miron was terminated from the program in 2017 and has not practiced medicine since November 2018 under an agreement with the Board of Registration in Medicine.
In addition to involuntary manslaughter, Miron pleaded guilty to defrauding MassHealth and illegal prescribing of controlled substances. He was ordered to pay restitution to MassHealth.
After Miron was first charged in 2018, his lawyer said the doctor “was shocked and deeply saddened” and noted that he had spent 50 years practicing internal medicine in Chelmsford, Lowell, and Dracut without prior complaints to the Board of Registration in Medicine. “During those five decades, Dr. Miron worked very hard to provide exemplary care and treatment to hundreds of area residents,” the statement said.
Over the past two decades, opioid prescribing laws have tightened dramatically in response to the opioid crisis that began in the 1990s. Regulators and lawmakers, including those in Massachusetts, increased physician oversight, set prescribing limits, and expanded enforcement tools such as prescription drug monitoring programs.
Around the time of Miron’s indictment, then-U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling warned medical professionals across the state that their prescribing practices were under review if they had prescribed opioids to a patient within 60 days of death or to a patient who died from an opioid overdose.
Several Massachusetts doctors have been prosecuted since 2015 for illegal opioid prescribing, including cases in Hyannis, Ludlow, Worcester, Boston, and Three Rivers. The crackdown on doctors has caused some to avoid prescribing opioids altogether, raising concerns among patients who responsibly use opioids for chronic pain management.
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