Authorities charge Bucks County doctor with illegally prescribing controlled substance for money
Prosecutors say the Bucks County doctor charged $130 to patients for prescriptions without discussing their health or medical issues.
A Bucks County doctor is facing criminal charges for illegally prescribing Suboxone, a tightly regulated drug used to treat people with opioid addiction, to patients for a $130 fee, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors say Kenneth Fox, 55, was recently fired from Jefferson Health, but continued to prescribe Suboxone out of his basement office in Middletown Township. Suboxone is the brand name of an opioid-based medication, called buprenorphine, which has also at times been sold illicitly on the street, in many cases to people who are seeking its affects to avoid withdrawal pains or keep from overdosing.
“In the basement, patients would have to wait inside a hallway where chairs were lined up. There were no appointment times — people would just show up and Dr. Fox would call out ‘next’ when he wanted to see another patient,” the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Detectives launched an investigation into Fox, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, in November 2023 after a patient alerted police. The patient told detectives he paid the $130 fee to Fox through an app on a phone. After paying, Fox submitted a prescription for a 30-day supply of Suboxone, the patient said.
From Feb. 10 to June 4 of this year, detectives sent confidential informants or undercover officers to visit Fox who prescribed Suboxone to each. During that time period, Fox prescribed the medication to 80 patients without discussing health or medical issues, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors charged Fox, who lives in Jenkintown, Montgomery County, with 12 counts of illegally prescribing a controlled substance, 12 counts of furnishing false or fraudulent records, and three counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also fined Fox nearly $490,000 for failing to maintain complete and accurate records of a controlled substance and writing prescriptions “for stock,” according to the county D.A.’s office.
Fox was being held Friday in the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10% of $75,000 bail and could not be reached for comment.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next month, and he does not yet have a lawyer, according to court records.
His medical license remains active with no history of disciplinary action, Pennsylvania licensure records show.
Jefferson Health spokesperson Deana Gamble on Friday said Fox was fired and hasn’t worked for Jefferson since 2022. She declined to say why or whether Jefferson reported his termination to any national or state regulatory agencies.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with comment from Jefferson Health.