THE BLURRY LEGAL LINE BETWEEN DOCTORS AND DRUG DEALERS
XIULU RUAN, A board-certified Alabama pain specialist, was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for prescribing opioid analgesics “outside the usual course of professional medical practice.” According to the appeals court that upheld his 2017 conviction, it did not matter whether he sincerely believed he was doing what a physician is supposed to do.
That ruling, which is the focus of a case the Supreme Court heard in March, conflates
