Florida Doctor Charged With Opioid Trafficking

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News Talk Florida
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VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Police say a Florida doctor accused of stealing a patient’s cellphone is now facing drug trafficking charges.

The Palm Beach Post reports that 51-year-old back doctor Johnny Clyde Benjamin is facing a charge of trafficking the powerful opioid fentanyl, as well as robbery and grand theft.

The Indian River County Sheriff’s office says a man accused Benjamin of trying to steal his cellphone, and reported the incident.

Narcan is displayed after a news conference to announce a program and pilot study in Hamilton County to more than quadruple distribution of the opioid overdose-reversing drug to 30,000 units in nasal spray form, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2017, in Cincinnati. Attorney General Mike DeWine and representatives of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, BrightView Health and Adapt Pharma plan to dramatically expand availability of the drug in the southwest Ohio county stricken by increases in synthetic opioid abuse. Photo: AP Photo/John Minchillo.

When deputies arrived at the doctor’s home to question him about the cellphone, they ended up serving a warrant for trafficking an alleged 28 grams of fentanyl.

Benjamin was previously the chairman of orthopedic surgery at the Indian River Medical Clinic, and is currently the director of Medical Specialties Surgery Center.

He is being held in the county jail.

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